Each pair is composed of one concha in either side of the nasal cavity, divided by the septum.The superior conchae are smaller structures, connected to the middle conchae by nerve-endings, and serve to protect the olfactory bulb. The openings to the posterior ethmoidal sinuses exist under the superior meatus.The middle conchae are smaller. In humans, they are usually as long as the little finger. They project downwards over the openings of the maxillary and anterior and middle ethmoid sinuses, and act as buffers to protect the sinuses from coming in direct contact with pressurized nasal airflow. Most inhaled airflow travels between the inferior concha and the middle meatus.The inferior conchae are the largest, and can be as long as the index finger in humans, and are responsible for the majority of airflow direction, humidification, heating, and filtering of air inhaled through the nose.The inferior conchae are graded 1–4 based on the inferior concha classification system (known as the inferior turbinate classification system) in which the total amount of the airway space that the inferior concha takes up is estimated. Grade 1 is 0–25% of the airway, grade 2 is 26–50% of the airway, grade 3 is 51–75% of the airway and grade 4 is 76–100% of the airway.There is sometimes a pair of supreme conchae superior to the superior conchae. When present, these usually take the form of a small crest. Function
The conchae comprise most of the mucosal tissue of the nose and are required for functional respiration.
In 1953, gamma globulin was shown to prevent paralytic polio.Being a product derived from bone marrow and lymph gland cells, gamma globulin injections, along with blood transfusions and intravenous drug use, can pass hepatitis C to their recipients. Once hepatitis C was identified in 1989, blood banks began screening all blood donors for the presence of the virus in their bloodstream. However, since hepatitis C is known to have been present since at least the 1940s, a gamma globulin shot received prior to the early 1990s put the recipient at risk of being infected. Intravenous gamma globulin was FDA-approved in 2004 to reduce antibodies in a patient with kidney failure to allow that person to accept a kidney from a donor with a different blood type (ABO-incompatible), or who is an unacceptable tissue match. Stanley Jordan at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles pioneered this treatment. Pathology
An excess is known as hypergammaglobulinemia. A deficiency is known as hypogammaglobulinemia. A disease of gamma globulins is called a "gammopathy" (for example, in monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance). References
External links
gamma-Globulins at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)