Ethmoidal Foramina

The anterior and posterior ethmoidal arteries pass through the corresponding ethmoidal foramina in the medial orbital wall along the frontoethmoidal suture. These foramina provide a potential route of entry into the orbit for pathogens and neoplasms from the sinuses, and they also serve as a surgical landmark for the superior extent of medial wall surgery. Limiting manipulation of the medial orbital wall to the area below the level of the foramina helps prevent inadvertent entry into the cranial vault. Damage to the medial wall above the level of the foramina may disrupt a plane superior to the cribriform plate.

Excerpted from BCSC 2020-2021 series: Section 10 - Glaucoma. For more information and to purchase the entire series, please visit https://www.aao.org/bcsc.