Laryngeal Anatomy (laryngeal + anatomy)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Arctic roars , laryngeal anatomy and vocalization of the muskox (Ovibos moschatus Zimmermann, 1780, Bovidae)

JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY, Issue 4 2006
R. Frey
Abstract The impressive roaring of adult male muskoxen most often occurs during rutting contests. Roaring in adult females is primarily relevant to mother,infant communication. Loud roars are produced by taking up a specific roaring posture. Acoustic recordings were made in a small herd of zoo muskoxen during three successive rutting seasons. Earlier recordings of a different herd were used for comparison. Head-and-neck specimens were subjected to vascular injection, macroscopic anatomical dissection, computer tomographic analysis and skeletonization. Isolated preserved larynges of young animals were dissected for ontogenetic comparison. Despite a pronounced sexual dimorphism of head mass, larynx size is almost identical in adult male and female muskoxen, as is the fundamental frequency of their roars. Remarkably, the larynges of both sexes of muskoxen are provided with an unpaired ventrorostral ventricle. Probably, this ventricle is inflated during the initial phase of a roar. The ventricle may have two functions: to increase the amplitude of roaring and to darken the timbre of the roars by acting as an additional resonance space. The vocal fold of adult female and young individuals has a sharp rostral edge and a vocal ligament is still present. During male ontogeny the vocal ligament becomes transformed into a large fat pad extending into the wall of the laryngeal vestibulum. Accordingly, the glottic region in the adult male lacks any sharp edges of the mucosa. In both sexes the thyroarytenoid muscle is divided into three portions. A single roar may comprise phases of different sound volume. The roars of both muskox sexes are characterized by a pulsed structure. We suggest that two oscillating systems are involved in the production of roars: one comprising only the medial portion of the vocal fold and one including its lateral portion. [source]


Diagnosis of vocal cord dysfunction in asthma with high resolution dynamic volume computerized tomography of the larynx

RESPIROLOGY, Issue 8 2009
Peter W. HOLMES
ABSTRACT Background and objective: Vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) often masquerades as asthma and reports have suggested that up to 30% of patients with asthma may have coexistent VCD. Diagnosis of VCD is difficult, in part because it involves laryngoscopy which has practical constraints, and there is need for rapid non-invasive diagnosis. High speed 320-slice volume CT demonstrates laryngeal function during inspiration and expiration and may be useful in suspected VCD. Methods: Endoscopy and high resolution 320-slice dynamic volume CT were used to examine and compare laryngeal anatomy and movement in a case of subglottic stenosis and in a patient with confirmed VCD. Nine asthmatics with ongoing symptoms and suspected VCD also underwent 320-slice dynamic volume CT. Tracheal and laryngeal anatomy and movement were evaluated and luminal areas were measured. Reductions in vocal cord luminal area >40%, lasting for >70% duration of inspiration/expiration, were judged to be consistent with VCD. Results: Studies of subglottic tracheal stenosis validated anatomical similarities between endoscopy and CT images. Endoscopy and 320-slice volume CT also provided comparable dynamic images in a patient with confirmed VCD. A further nine patients with a history of severe asthma and suspected VCD were studied using CT. Four patients had evidence of VCD and the median reduction of luminal area during expiration was 78.2% (range 48.2,92.5%) compared with 10.4% (range 4.7,30%) in the five patients without VCD. Patients with VCD had no distinguishing clinical characteristics. Conclusions: Dynamic volume CT provided explicit images of the larynx, distinguished function of the vocal cords during the respiratory cycle and could identify putative VCD. The technique will potentially provide a simple, non-invasive investigation to identify laryngeal dysfunction, permitting improved management of asthma. [source]


Comparative Histology and Vibration of the Vocal Folds: Implications for Experimental Studies in Microlaryngeal Surgery ,

THE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 5 2000
C. Gaelyn Garrett MD
Abstract Objectives/Hypothesis To determine the most suitable animal model for experimental studies on vocal fold surgery and function by a histological comparison of the microflap surgical plane and laryngeal videostroboscopy (LVS) in different species of animals. A second goal was to determine how the layered vocal fold structure in humans and three different animal species affects surgical dissection within the lamina propria. Study Design Prospective laboratory. Methods Three larynges each from dogs, monkeys, and pigs were compared with three ex vivo human larynges. Microflap surgery was performed on one vocal fold from each larynx. Both the operated and nonoperated vocal folds were examined histologically using stains specific for elastin, mature collagen, and ground substance. Based on the histological results, LVS was performed on two dogs and two pigs after first performing a tracheotomy for ventilation and airflow through the glottis. Arytenoid adduction sutures were placed to facilitate vocal fold adduction. Results The distributions of the collagen and elastin fibers were found to differ among the species with concentrations varying within species. Unlike the human vocal fold, which has a higher elastin concentration in the deeper layers of the lamina propria, both the pig and the dog had a thin band of elastin concentrated just deep to the basement membrane zone in the superficial layer. Just deep to this thin band, the collagen and the elastin were less concentrated. The monkey vocal fold had a very thin mucosal layer with less elastin throughout the mucosa. The microflap dissections in each of the dog, pig, and human vocal folds were similar, being located within that portion of the superficial lamina propria where the elastin and mature collagen are less concentrated. The microflap plane in the monkey vocal fold was more deeply located near the vocalis fibers. Despite the differences in elastin concentration, the microflap plane in both the dog and the pig was found to be similar to that in humans. The dog anatomy was much more suitable for microsuspension laryngoscopy and stroboscopic examination. The dog vocal folds vibrated in a similar fashion to human vocal folds with mucosal waves and vertical phase differences, features not seen in the pig vocal folds. Conclusions Based on both the histological and stroboscopic results, the dog was believed to be a more suitable animal model for studies on vocal fold surgery, acknowledging that no animal's laryngeal anatomy is identical to that of the human. The dog LVS model presented allows for longitudinal laryngeal studies requiring repeated examinations at multiple time periods with histological correlation applied at sacrifice. [source]


The historical Latin and etymology of selected anatomical terms of the larynx

CLINICAL ANATOMY, Issue 2 2010
Daniel D. Lydiatt
Abstract The etymological evolution of the anatomical terms larynx, cricoid, glottis, epiglottis, and thyroid (cartilage) dates to antiquity. Human dissection replaced animal in the 16th and 17th centuries and terms evolved. This evolution was recorded in the literature largely in Latin. We translated key studies of laryngeal anatomy from the 16th century to better understand this evolution. We present the Latin with our translations, and historical commentary as essential to this understanding. Vesalius favored the Latin scutiform (shield) for the thyroid cartilage, but recognized peltalis (shield). The Basle Nomina Anatomica (BNA) chose the Greek thyroid (,,,,o,,, ) for modern convention. Vesalius used the name "innominate" for the cricoid cartilage, but described its resemblance to a ring, drawn in the margin of the Fabrica. Krikoid, the Greek for ring shaped, was adopted by the BNA. Although the term arytenoid was used for centuries, Vesalius argued the Greek name referred to the spout of a cup or ladle. He recognized the human arytenoids as two separate cartilages as opposed to single in certain animals. The glottis was defined by Vesalius as the vocal fold or rima glottidis of today, and he advanced its function by understanding the paired, mobile arytenoid cartilages. He defined the function of the epiglottis and first described the pre-epiglottic space. Vesalius' student at Padua, Italy, Columbo contributed to anatomical knowledge, but animosity between them clouded the record. Harvey, working 75 years later in England, offers an evolutionary window from Vesalius. Harvey's laryngeal studies preceded by a decade his groundbreaking studies on the circulation of blood. Clin. Anat. 23:131,144, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]