Is the Cribriform Plate an Effective Border?

Introduction: The authors have long studied the anatomy of the cribriform plate and will refer to their own studies of the problems of the cribriform plate as an effective border of the anterior skull base-for example, for tumor and trauma. They will discuss this border in relation to any tumor classification in correlation with the appropriate anatomical study. Material and Methods: The macroscopic and microscopic study of the cribriform plate in different histological techniques and specimen. The correlation between surgery and different techniques and anatomical circumstances. We study the cribriform plate in two steps: first, the osseous macroscopic study of space form, and second, the microscopic study of the cribriform plate with a two-color technique: hematoxylin-eosin and Bodian technique. We also study an embryological specimen in the part of the cribriform plate. Conclusion: After anatomical study, the authors will discuss their operative technique in the region of the cribriform plate and its resection: Is it possible to resect the cribriform plate without opening the dural sheet? The osseous study discovered that the cribriform plate is not just an osseous plate with a hole, but very complicated with a labyrinthine character. The microscopic study revealed a correlation between osseous canals, nerves, vessels, and arachnoidal villi. We describe Fondan's undulation (transverse striped of olfactory nerves) for the first time in the literature as well as the penetration of arachnoidal villi together with the nerves into the osseous canals (venous structures very similar to cavernous veins). This study also reports for the first time in the literature the microscopic junction between the dura mater in this area, where vessels and nerves go through the dura extradurally or extracranially. The new anatomical concepts of the cribriform plate begin to answer any problematic neuroscientific questions.