Thyro-epiglottic part of thyro-arytenoid muscle
Pars thyreoepiglottica musculi thyreoarytenoidei
The thyro-epiglottic part is a thin slip of the thyro-arytenoid muscle that runs from the inside of the thyroid cartilage to the epiglottis.
At a glance
- English
- Thyro-epiglottic part of thyro-arytenoid muscle
- Latin (TA2)
- Pars thyreoepiglottica musculi thyreoarytenoidei
- System
- Muscle
- Region
- Neck
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the thyro-epiglottic part of thyro-arytenoid muscle
The thyro-arytenoid is an intrinsic muscle of the larynx lying beside the vocal fold, between the thyroid cartilage in front and the arytenoid cartilage behind. Its deepest fibres form vocalis, inside the vocal fold. Some of its upper fibres do not stop at the arytenoid but continue upward into the aryepiglottic fold and to the edge of the epiglottis. These form the thyro-epiglottic part, sometimes described as a separate thyro-epiglottic muscle.
This part starts in front on the inner face of the thyroid cartilage, near the angle, with the rest of the thyro-arytenoid. It sweeps upward and backward in the wall of the laryngeal vestibule and ends on the side of the epiglottis and on the quadrangular membrane, the sheet of connective tissue that supports the aryepiglottic fold.
Its action is small. Pulling on the epiglottis and the aryepiglottic folds, it is thought to widen the laryngeal inlet, or at least to adjust its shape. Some authors credit it with helping the epiglottis move during swallowing, but the main closure of the inlet is done by other muscles and by lifting of the larynx under the tongue base.
Like all the intrinsic laryngeal muscles except cricothyroid, it is supplied by the recurrent laryngeal nerve. Its blood supply comes from the laryngeal branches of the superior and inferior thyroid arteries. It is mostly of interest to laryngeal surgeons and to those studying how the airway is guarded during swallowing.
Attachments, action and supply
- Origin
- Inner surface of the thyroid cartilage near the angle, with the rest of the thyro-arytenoid.
- Insertion
- Side of the epiglottis and the quadrangular membrane.
- Action
- Widens or reshapes the laryngeal inlet by acting on the aryepiglottic folds and epiglottis.
- Nerve supply
- Recurrent laryngeal nerve (vagus).
- Blood supply
- Superior and inferior laryngeal arteries, from the superior and inferior thyroid arteries.
Anthromica
See the thyro-epiglottic part of thyro-arytenoid muscle 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.
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