The mastoid cells (also called air cells of Lenoir or mastoid cells of Lenoir) are air-filled cavities within the

mastoid process The mastoid part of the temporal bone is the posterior (back) part of the temporal bone, one of the bones of the skull. Its rough surface gives attachment to various muscles (via tendons) and it has openings for blood vessels. From its borders, ...

of the

temporal bone The temporal bones are situated at the sides and base of the skull, and lateral to the temporal lobes of the cerebral cortex. The temporal bones are overlaid by the sides of the head known as the temples, and house the structures of the ears. Th ...

of the

cranium The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

. The mastoid cells are a form of

skeletal pneumaticity Skeletal pneumaticity is the presence of air spaces within bones. It is generally produced during development by excavation of bone by pneumatic diverticula (air sacs) from an air-filled space, such as the lungs or nasal cavity. Pneumatization is h ...

. Infection in these cells is called

mastoiditis Mastoiditis is the result of an infection that extends to the air cells of the skull behind the ear. Specifically, it is an inflammation of the mucosal lining of the mastoid antrum and mastoid air cell system inside the mastoid process. The ma ...

. The term "cells" refers to enclosed spaces, not

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery ...

s as living, biological units.

Anatomy

A section of the mastoid process will show it to be hollowed out into a number of spaces which exhibit great variety in their size and number. At the upper and front part of the process they are large and irregular and contain air, but toward the lower part they diminish in size, while those at the apex of the process are frequently quite small and contain marrow. Occasionally they are entirely absent and the mastoid is solid throughout.

Development

At birth, the mastoid is not pneumatized, but becomes aerated before age six.

Function

The air cells are hypothesised to protect the temporal bone and the inner and middle ear against trauma and to regulate air pressure.

Clinical significance

Infections in the middle ear can easily spread into the mastoid area via the

aditus ad antrum The aditus to mastoid antrum (otomastoid foramen or entrance or aperture to the mastoid antrum) is a large irregular cavity that leads backward from the epitympanic recess into a considerable air space named the tympanic or mastoid antrum. The a ...

and

mastoid antrum The mastoid antrum (tympanic antrum, antrum mastoideum, Valsalva's antrum) is an air space in the petrous portion of the temporal bone, communicating posteriorly with the mastoid cells and anteriorly with the epitympanic recess of the middle ear vi ...

, causing

References

External links

* {{Authority control Bones of the head and neck Ear