The cribriform fascia, fascia cribrosa also Hesselbach's fascia is the portion of

fascia A fascia (; plural fasciae or fascias; adjective fascial; from Latin: "band") is a band or sheet of connective tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches to, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organs. ...

covering the

saphenous opening In anatomy, the saphenous opening (saphenous hiatus, also fossa ovalis) is an oval opening in the upper mid part of the fascia lata of the thigh. It lies 3–4 cm below and lateral to the pubic tubercle and is about 3 cm long and 1.5&nb ...

in the

thigh In human anatomy, the thigh is the area between the hip (pelvis) and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb. The single bone in the thigh is called the femur. This bone is very thick and strong (due to the high proportion of bone ...

. It is perforated by the

great saphenous vein The great saphenous vein (GSV, alternately "long saphenous vein"; ) is a large, subcutaneous, superficial vein of the leg. It is the longest vein in the body, running along the length of the lower limb, returning blood from the foot, leg and thig ...

and by numerous

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

and

lymphatic vessel The lymphatic vessels (or lymph vessels or lymphatics) are thin-walled vessels (tubes), structured like blood vessels, that carry lymph. As part of the lymphatic system, lymph vessels are complementary to the cardiovascular system. Lymph vess ...

s. (A structure in anatomy that is pierced by several small holes is referred to as ''cribriform'' from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''cribrum'' meaning sieve).

Clinical significance

The cribriform fascia has been proposed for use in preventing new vascularization when surgery is performed at the join between the

and the

femoral vein In the human body, the femoral vein is a blood vessel that accompanies the femoral artery in the femoral sheath. It begins at the adductor hiatus (an opening in the adductor magnus muscle) as the continuation of the popliteal vein. It ends at th ...

Eponym

When the eponym is used, it is named for

Franz Kaspar Hesselbach Franz Kaspar Hesselbach (27 January 1759 – 24 July 1816) was a German surgeon and anatomist who was a native of Hammelburg. He was a pupil, and later Prosector under Carl Caspar von Siebold (1736–1807) at Würzburg. Later Hesselbach was a lec ...

.F. K. Hesselbach. Anatomisch-chirurgische Abhandlung über den Urspurng der Leistenbrüche. Würzburg, Baumgärtner, 1806.

References

Lower limb anatomy Fascia {{musculoskeletal-stub