The Larynx

The larynx (which becomes continuous with the trachea at C6) acts as a protective mechanism for the airway consisting of a cartilaginous and membranous skeleton. The support cartilages include the ring of the cricoid inferiorly, the V-shaped thyroid cartilage with its two laminae and the arytenoid and the epiglottic cartilages at the pharyngeal opening. The laryngeal cavity narrows at the arytenoids because of the projecting vocal and vestibular folds so that the lateral wall is then formed by the aryepiglottic fold and the piriform recess with the two small nodules of cartilage (the corniculate and cuneiform cartilages) embedded at the upper arytenoid margin.