ABSTRACT
Larynx The larynx (Figure 3.1) is made up of several cartilages (epiglottis, cricoid, thyroid and paired arytenoids) linked by joints and moved by intrinsic and extrinsic muscles. It functions to both protect the airway from aspiration
Applied anatomy Nasal passages The nostrils are large, mobile and dilated by muscular action during exercise. The left and right nasal passages are separated by the nasal septum and partitioned further on each side by scrolls of thin bone lined by vascular mucosa (dorsal and ventral nasal conchae). The air passages around these conchae communicate
passage of air into the trachea and lungs during breathing. The key muscle relevant to laryngeal function during exercise is the cricoarytenoideus dorsalis (CAD) muscle, which opens (abducts) the arytenoid cartilages and is the major dilating muscle of the laryngeal opening. The epiglottis is a prominent triangularshaped cartilage. Size and relative stiffness/flaccidity can vary between individuals.Its only muscular attachment is the hypoepiglotticus, which serves to tense the epiglottis down onto the soft palate. On each side of the epiglottis, a fold of mucosa confluent with the corniculate process of the arytenoid cartilage forms the aryepiglottic fold. Within the opening of the larynx, connecting the arytenoids to the thyroid cartilage, are the vocal folds, which border blind-ended lateral ventricles.
