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The larynx, commonly called the voice box, is an organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. The opening of larynx into pharynx known as the laryngeal inlet is about 4–5 centimeters in diameter. The larynx houses the vocal cords, and manipulates pitch and volume, which is essential for phonation. It is situated just below where the tract of the pharynx splits into the trachea and the esophagus. The word 'larynx' comes from the Ancient Greek word lárunx ʻlarynx, gullet, throat.ʼ
The epiglottis is a leaf-shaped flap in the throat that prevents food and water from entering the trachea and the lungs. It stays open during breathing, allowing air into the larynx. During swallowing, it closes to prevent aspiration of food into the lungs, forcing the swallowed liquids or food to go along the esophagus toward the stomach instead. It is thus the valve that diverts passage to either the trachea or the esophagus.
Elastic cartilage, fibroelastic cartilage or yellow fibrocartilage is a type of cartilage present in the pinnae (auricles) of the ear giving it shape, provides shape for the lateral region of the external auditory meatus, medial part of the auditory canal Eustachian tube, corniculate and cuneiform laryneal cartilages, and the epiglottis. It contains elastic fiber networks and collagen type II fibers. The principal protein is elastin.
The cricoid cartilage, or simply cricoid or cricoid ring, is the only complete ring of cartilage around the trachea. It forms the back part of the voice box and functions as an attachment site for muscles, cartilages, and ligaments involved in opening and closing the airway and in producing speech.
The cricothyroid ligament is a ligament in the neck. It connects the cricoid cartilage to the thyroid cartilage. It prevents these cartilages from moving too far apart. It is cut during an emergency cricothyrotomy to treat upper airway obstruction.
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 shorten the vocal folds.
The lateral thyrohyoid ligament is a round elastic cord, which forms the posterior border of the thyrohyoid membrane and passes between the tip of the superior cornu of the thyroid cartilage and the extremity of the greater cornu of the hyoid bone. The internal branch of the superior laryngeal nerve typical lies lateral to this ligament.
The thyrohyoid membrane is a broad, fibro-elastic sheet of the larynx. It connects the upper border of the thyroid cartilage to the hyoid bone.
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 oblique arytenoid is bilaterally paired intrinsic muscle of the larynx. It is superficial to the transverse arytenoid; the oblique and transverse arytenoids are often considered two parts of a single muscle - the interarytenoid muscle.
The portion of the cavity of the larynx above the vestibular fold 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 aryepiglottic folds are triangular folds of mucous membrane of the larynx. They enclose ligamentous and muscular fibres. They extend 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. They have a role in growling as a form of phonation. They may be narrowed and cause stridor, or be shortened and cause laryngomalacia.
The costoxiphoid ligaments are inconstant strand-like fibrous bands that connect the anterior and posterior surfaces of the seventh costal cartilage, and sometimes those of the sixth, to the front and back of the xiphoid process the sternum.
The intermetacarpal joints are in the hand formed between the metacarpal bones. The bases of the second, third, fourth and fifth metacarpal bones articulate with one another by small surfaces covered with cartilage. The metacarpal bones are connected together by dorsal, palmar, and interosseous ligaments.
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 cricotracheal ligament connects the cricoid cartilage superiorly, and the first tracheal cartilage ring inferiorly. It is continuous with the tracheal perichondrium and resembles the fibrous membrane which connects the cartilaginous rings of the trachea to each other.
The hyoepiglottic ligament is an extrinsic ligament of the larynx connecting the epiglottis and the thyroid cartilage.
The quadrangular membrane is a layer of submucosa. It extends between the lateral margin of the epiglottis, and the apex and fovea triangularis of the ipsilateral arytenoid cartilage. It has free superior and inferior borders.
The pharynx is the part of the throat behind the mouth and nasal cavity, and above the esophagus and trachea. It is found in vertebrates and invertebrates, though its structure varies across species. The pharynx carries food to the esophagus and air to the larynx. The flap of cartilage called the epiglottis stops food from entering the larynx.
References
This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 1075 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)
- ↑ Standring, Susan (2020). Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice (42th ed.). New York. p. 721. ISBN 978-0-7020-7707-4. OCLC 1201341621.
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