8 - Pharynx and Larynx Flashcards
What is the pharynx? What are it’s parts?
A muscular tube.
Nasopharynx, oropharynx (between soft palate and epiglottis), and laryngopharynx (epiglottis to inferior border of cricoid cartiladge).
What are the muscles of the pharynx?
Superior constrictor: meets in posterior at the median pharyngeal raphae.
Middle pharyngeal constrictors.
Inferior constrictors: thyropharyngeus and cricopharyngeus
Stylopharyngeus
What are the major muscles and structures of the nasopharynx?
Auditory tube, tubal elevation, salpingopharyngeus, platopharyngeus, levator veli palatini, tensor veli palatini, and nasopharyngeal tonsil.
What are the main structures of the oropharynx?
Oropharyngeal isthmus and the palatine tonsils (between the palatoglossal and palatopharyngeal arches.
What is the main structure of the laryngopharynx?
The piriform fossae, a pear shaped fossa on either side of the pharyngeal inlet.
What three nerves innervate the motor portion of the pharynx?
CN X - all muscles of the soft palate and pharynx (constrictors, salpingopharyngeus, and palatopharyngeus.)
CN IX - Stylopharyngeus
CN V3 - tensor veli palatini
What nerves innervate the sensory portion of the pharynx?
CN IX and CN V2 - upper pharynx
CN X - lower pharynx
What makes up the pharyngeal plexus?
CN IX, X, and sympathetic fibers.
What is the blood supply and lymphatic drainage of the pharynx?
Ascending pharyngeal artery.
Drained via the jugulodigastric nodes.
What is the larynx and what is its function?
Passageway for air that functions in voice production.
What are some pathologies related to the larynx?
Laryngitis, vocal cord polyps, and laryngeal cancer.
What are the parts of the thyroid (laryngeal cartilages)? What attaches to them?
Superior cornu: attachment for thyrohyoid membrane
Inferior cornu: articulares with cricoid cartilage
Oblique line: attachment for inferior constrictor, sternothyroid, and thyrohyoid.
The middle pharyngeal constrictor is in the region of the _____?
Hyoid bone.
What is dysphagia?
Difficulty swallowing.
Where is the cricoid cartilage located and what is it’s shape?
Below the thyroid cartilage.
Narrow in the front but expands posteriorly and forms a complete ring.
What are arytenoids? What are the parts?
Cartilaginous structures located posteriorly above the cricoid cartilage.
Vocal processes project anteriorly and have a vocal ligament that connects to the thyroid.
Muscular processes that project laterally.
What type of joint is between the arytenoids and the cricoid cartilage? What purpose does this serve?
Synovial joint; allows arytenoid cartilage to rotate/swivel around their base and can glide both medial and lateral and anterior to posterior.
What i epiglottic cartilage made of? What is it connected to?
Made of elastic cartilage.
Attaches to the inside surface of the thyroid cartilage and is up-side down tear drop shaped.
What are the cricothyroid membranes? What else is near them?
2 membranes that connect the cricoid cartilage and the thyroid cartilage.
There’s also anterior/median cricothyroid ligaments (one per side).
What is the structure of the cricovocal membranes (aka lateral cricothyroid ligaments)? What is the thickened superior free edge of the cricovocal membranes called?
Tent-like fibrous sheets that project medially.
Vocal ligaments.
What is the conus elasticus?
Cricovocal membranes + vocal ligaments
What does the quadrangular membrane connect? What is the free superior edge called? What about the free inferior edge?
The epiglottic to the arytenoid cartilages.
Free superior edge called the aryepiglottic fold.
Free inferior edge called the vestibular ligaments.
Where are the vocalis muscles located? What else is there?
Within the the vocal folds, along with the vocal ligaments and the cricovocal membranes.
What is the space between the vocal folds called?
Rima glottidis (ie the airway)
What connects the tongue and the epiglottis?
The glossoepiglottic folds - there’s two lateral and one medial.
What are the depressiosn between the tongue (anterior) and epiglottis (posterior) called?
Vallecula
What is the laryngeal inlet called?
The aditus laryngis.
What is the path of the aryepiglottic folds? What is located lateral to these?
They extend from the arytenoid cartilages to the epiglottis.
Piriform recesses - pear shaped spaces.
What is the location and function of the cricothyroid muscles?
Between the thyroid and cricoid cartilages.
Act to tilt the thyroid anteriorly to elongate, which tightens the vocal ligaments and increases the pitch of your voice.
What innervates the cricothyroid muscles?
The external laryngeal n.
this is different from the other intrinsic muscles of the larynxn that are innervated by the recurrent laryngeal n.
What is the location and action of the transverse arytenoids (intrinsic muscle of the larynx)? What is the innervation?
Unpaired; goes from one arytenoid cartilage to the other.
Pulls arytenoid cartilages together, affecting the width of the airway.
Innervation: recurrent laryngeal nerve.
What is the location and action of the oblique arytenoids? What is the innervation?
Superficial to the transverse arytenoids,
They act like drawstrings on the laryngeal inlet to adjust its size.
Innervation: recurrent laryngeal nerve.
What is the location of the posterior cricoarytenoids? What is their innervation?
Muscular processes of arytenoid cartilages to the posterior part of the cricoid cartilage.
Pulls muscular processes medially to abduct vocal folds and open airway(!!!)
Innervation: recurrent laryngeal nerve.
What is the location and action of the thyroarytenoids? What is their innervation?
From posterior surface of the thyroid cartilage to the arytenoid cartilage.
Pull arytenoid cartilages anteriorly to decrease tension on vocal ligaments and decrease voice pitch.
Innervation: recurrent laryngeal nerve.
What is the location of the lateral cricoarytenoids? What is their action?
Below the thyroartenoids. Go from muscular processes of arytenoid to lateral part of cricoid cartilage.
Pull muscular processes anteriorly to adduct the vocal folds and close the rima glottidis.
Innervation: recurrent laryngeal n.
What does the superior laryngeal nerve split into? What does each supply?
The internal laryngeal n.: sensory to mucosa superior to vocal folds and ANS
External laryngeal n.: motor to cricothyroid muscle.
What does the recurrent laryngeal nerve supply?
Sensory to mucosa inferior to the vocal folds.
Motor to all intrinsic m’s except the cricothyroid.
