Lead acetate uptake in the nasal septum during midfacial growth in Macaca fascicularis.

Growth of the bone structures of the nasal septum was studied in two young Macaca fascicularis (human age, 8 to 9 years) that received serial injections of lead acetate as a maker. The nasal septum in these monkeys is a thin, fragile, but morphologically complex, structure. A number of adjustment sites to the lengthening of the midface were observed, namely, at the cranial surface, at the junction of the bulbous perpendicular plate of the vomer and the nasal septum, and at the inferior junction of the vomer and palate. No apparent growth site was present at the interface of the septal cartilage with the vomer. Results suggest that the nasal septum in Macaca fascicularis adapts to growth changes in the midface.