Median thyrohyoid ligament
Ligamentum thyreohyoideum medianum
The thickened central part of the thyrohyoid membrane, joining the thyroid notch of the larynx to the central body of the hyoid.
At a glance
- English
- Median thyrohyoid ligament
- Latin (TA2)
- Ligamentum thyreohyoideum medianum
- System
- Ligament
- Region
- Neck
- Side
- Single, on the midline
About the median thyrohyoid ligament
The larynx is slung from the hyoid bone by the thyrohyoid membrane, a broad fibroelastic sheet. Along the midline the sheet is markedly thicker, and this central cord is the median thyrohyoid ligament (also called the middle thyrohyoid or hyothyroid ligament). The sheet's posterior edges are thickened in the same way to form the two lateral thyrohyoid ligaments, so the membrane is reinforced at its middle and its two back borders.
The ligament runs from the upper border of the thyroid cartilage, at the superior thyroid notch above the laryngeal prominence, up to the hyoid. It does not attach to the lower edge of the hyoid body but passes behind it to reach its upper border. Between the back of the hyoid body and the membrane a small bursa allows the larynx to glide upwards beneath the bone when swallowing.
Its front surface is overlapped by the infrahyoid muscles: thyrohyoid on each side, with sternohyoid and the superior belly of omohyoid more superficially. Behind it lie fat and the epiglottis, which sits in the pre-epiglottic space. The thinner lateral parts of the membrane, away from the ligament, give passage to the superior laryngeal artery and vein and to the internal laryngeal nerve on their way into the larynx.
The ligament keeps the thyroid cartilage hung at a constant distance below the hyoid, so that the two rise together when the hyoid is pulled upwards in swallowing. Its midline position makes it a landmark for surgeons. In thyrohyoid approaches to the upper airway and in operations for thyroglossal duct cysts, which can track close to the hyoid, the ligament and membrane are identified and protected or divided.
Attachments and function
- Attaches from
- The upper border of the thyroid cartilage at the superior thyroid notch.
- Attaches to
- The upper edge of the hyoid body, reached by passing behind it.
- Function
- Suspends the larynx from the hyoid in the midline so the two move as one during swallowing.
- Nerve supply
- Sensory twigs from the internal laryngeal nerve.
- Blood supply
- Branches of the superior laryngeal and infrahyoid arteries, from the superior thyroid artery.
Anthromica
See the median 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.
