what is the significance of the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone
Cribriform plate A fractured cribriform plate(anterior skull trauma) can result in leaking of cerebrospinal fluid into the nose and loss of sense of smell. The tiny apertures of the plate transmitting the olfactory nerve become the route of ascent for a pathogen, Naegleria fowleri. This amoeba tends to destroy the olfactory bulb and the adjacent inferior surface of the frontal lobe of the brain. This surface initially becomes the site of proliferation of the trophozoites of Naegleria fowleri and their subsequent spread to the rest of the brain and CSF. Because of its initial involvement and trophozoite presence in early phases of Naegleria fowleri infection, flushing of this region with saline using a device, to obtain Naegelria fowleri for diagnostic PCR and microscopic viewing has been proposed for patients affected by Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM), by (Baig AM., et al) in a recent publication.[1] Reseachers have suggested the same route to administer drugs at an early phase of infection by using a " Transcribrial Device "[2] that has been proposed to kill this pathogen at a place of its maximum proliferation. In a 2017 the inventor of the device has suggested that after slight modifications this method could be effective in delivery of stem cells to the brain as well [3] A recent Australian study as shown that bacterium causing the tropical disease melioidosis, Burkholderia pseudomallei can also invade the brain via the olfactory nerve within 24 h by transversing the cribriform plate.[4]