An electron microscopic study of human olfactory mucosa.

Two intranasal biopsies of human olfactory mucosa were studied with the electron microscope, after confirming with the light microscope that they were in fact from the olfactory region. It was noted that the end of the dendrite of the human olfactory cell is flat or dome-shaped, and is not a bulb-like projection (olfactory vesicle). Moreover, the cilia are in the long axis of the olfactory cell, perpendicular to the epithelial surface, and do not lie parallel to it as described in some species. The supporting cells had multiple long microvilli, and definite points of contact with the olfactory cells; they appeared to spread their secretion over the microvilli in a novel manner, producing a layer of regularly spaced, spike-like granules.