Lateral thyrohyoid ligament
Ligamentum thyreohyoideum laterale
A rounded elastic cord at the back edge of the thyrohyoid membrane, tying the thyroid cartilage's superior horn to the hyoid bone.
At a glance
- English
- Lateral thyrohyoid ligament
- Latin (TA2)
- Ligamentum thyreohyoideum laterale
- System
- Ligament
- Region
- Neck
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the lateral thyrohyoid ligament
The thyroid cartilage of the larynx hangs from the hyoid bone by a broad sheet, the thyrohyoid membrane. That sheet is thickened in three places: once in the midline, as the median thyrohyoid ligament, and once along each free posterior edge, as the lateral thyrohyoid ligaments. Each lateral ligament is a cord-like band of mainly elastic fibres, and there is one on the right and one on the left.
The ligament runs upwards from the tip of the superior horn (cornu) of the thyroid cartilage to the posterior end of the greater horn of the hyoid bone. In doing so it completes the back border of the membrane. Embedded in it, more often than not, is a tiny nodule called the triticeal cartilage, about the size of a grain of wheat. This nodule may turn to bone with age, and on a lateral neck radiograph it can be mistaken for a swallowed foreign body or a calcified vessel.
Close relations matter more than the band itself. The internal laryngeal nerve, a branch of the superior laryngeal that carries sensation from the larynx above the vocal folds, usually runs just lateral to the ligament before it pierces the membrane with the superior laryngeal artery. The lower fibres of the inferior pharyngeal constrictor lie behind and lateral to it, and the piriform recess of the pharynx sits on its inner side.
Being elastic, the ligament lets the larynx and hyoid move as a unit during swallowing and speech while allowing a little give between them. When the hyoid is pulled up and forwards, the thyroid cartilage follows on this suspension, which helps close and protect the airway.
Attachments and function
- Attaches from
- The tip of the superior horn of the thyroid cartilage.
- Attaches to
- The posterior end of the greater horn of the hyoid bone.
- Function
- Suspends the back of the thyroid cartilage from the hyoid and forms the posterior free edge of the thyrohyoid membrane, allowing the two to move together in swallowing.
- Nerve supply
- Sensory twigs from the internal laryngeal nerve, which lies beside it.
- Blood supply
- Small branches of the superior laryngeal artery from the superior thyroid artery.
Anthromica
See the lateral thyrohyoid ligament where it really sits, with every layer of the body around it.
- Every layer, one body. Peel from muscle to bone, nerve, vessel and organ, and turn it any way.
- English and Latin. Every structure named the way your exam names it.
- Quiz until it sticks. Short drills on the structures you keep missing.
Free to start. No card.
