The rima glottidis is the opening between the true vocal cords and the arytenoid cartilages of the larynx.
The lateral cricoarytenoid muscles extend from the lateral cricoid cartilage to the muscular process of the arytenoid cartilage. By rotating the arytenoid cartilages medially, these muscles adduct the vocal cords and thereby close the rima glottidis, protecting the airway. The lateral cricoarytenoid muscles receive innervation from the recurrent laryngeal branch of the vagus nerve.
The posterior cricoarytenoid muscles are small, paired muscles that extend from the posterior cricoid cartilage to the arytenoid cartilages in the larynx.
The cricothyroid ligament is composed of two parts:
The arytenoid cartilages are a pair of small three-sided pyramids which form part of the larynx, to which the vocal folds are attached. These allow and aid in the vocal cords' movement.
The laryngeal inlet is the opening that connects the pharynx and the larynx.
Laryngomalacia is the most common cause of chronic stridor in infancy, in which the soft, immature cartilage of the upper larynx collapses inward during inhalation, causing airway obstruction. It can also be seen in older patients, especially those with neuromuscular conditions resulting in weakness of the muscles of the throat. However, the infantile form is much more common. Laryngomalacia is one of the most common laryngeal congenital disease in infancy and public education about the signs and symptoms of the disease is lacking.
The thyroarytenoid muscle is a broad, thin muscle that forms the body of the vocal fold and that supports the wall of the ventricle and its appendix. It functions to relax the vocal folds.
In the human larynx, the cuneiform cartilages are two small, elongated pieces of yellow elastic cartilage, placed one on either side, in the aryepiglottic fold.
The aryepiglotticus is a muscle of the larynx running in the aryepiglottic fold from the arytenoid cartilage to the epiglottis.
The portion of the cavity of the larynx above the vocal folds is called the laryngeal vestibule; it is wide and triangular in shape, its base or anterior wall presenting, however, about its center the backward projection of the tubercle of the epiglottis. It contains the vestibular folds, and between these and the vocal folds are the laryngeal ventricles.
The corniculate cartilages are two small conical nodules consisting of elastic cartilage, which articulate with the summits of the arytenoid cartilages and serve to prolong them posteriorly and medially.
The Aryepiglottic folds are triangular folds of mucous membrane enclosing ligamentous and muscular fibres. They are located at the entrance of the larynx, extending from the lateral borders of the epiglottis to the arytenoid cartilages, hence the name 'aryepiglottic'. They contain the aryepiglottic muscles and form the upper borders of the quadrangular membrane.
The vestibular fold is one of two thick folds of mucous membrane, each enclosing a narrow band of fibrous tissue, the vestibular ligament, which is attached in front to the angle of the thyroid cartilage immediately below the attachment of the epiglottis, and behind to the antero-lateral surface of the arytenoid cartilage, a short distance above the vocal process.
The laryngeal ventricle, is a fusiform fossa, situated between the vestibular and vocal folds on either side, and extending nearly their entire length. There is also a sinus of Morgagni in the pharynx.
The quadrangular membrane is a layer of submucosa. It contains the cuneiform cartilages. The membrane runs between the lateral aspects of the epiglottis and arytenoid cartilages on each side. The free inferior border of the quadrangular membrane is the vestibular fold which is the vestibular ligament when covered by mucosa. The superior border is in the aryepiglottic fold.
The cricoarytenoid articulation is a joint connecting the cricoid cartilage and the arytenoid cartilage.
In the human larynx, the vocal process is the anterior angle of the base of the arytenoid cartilage, as it projects horizontally forward and gives attachment to the vocal ligament.
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Gray's Anatomy is an English language textbook of human anatomy originally written by Henry Gray and illustrated by Henry Vandyke Carter. Earlier editions were called Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical, Anatomy of the Human Body and Gray's Anatomy: Descriptive and Applied, but the book's name is commonly shortened to, and later editions are titled, Gray's Anatomy. The book is widely regarded as an extremely influential work on the subject, and has continued to be revised and republished from its initial publication in 1858 to the present day. The latest edition of the book, the 41st, was published in September 2015.
