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The pharynx (pl.: pharynges) is the part of the throat behind the mouth and nasal cavity, and above the esophagus and trachea (the tubes going down to the stomach and the lungs respectively). It is found in vertebrates and invertebrates, though its structure varies across species. The pharynx carries food to the esophagus and air to the larynx.
The portion of the cavity of the larynx above the vestibular fold is called the laryngeal vestibule; it is wide and triangular in shape, its base or anterior wall presenting, however, about its center the backward projection of the tubercle of the epiglottis.
Elevation of the pharynx widens it to receive food and drink; elevation of the larynx causes the epiglottis to move down and form a lid over the glottis, closing it off. Paired cartilages: Arytenoid cartilages : Of the paired cartilages, the arytenoid cartilages are the most important because they influence the position and tension of the vocal ...
The posterior surface is triangular, smooth, concave, and gives attachment to the arytenoid muscle and transversus.. The antero-lateral surface is somewhat convex and rough. On it, near the apex of the cartilage, is a rounded elevation (colliculus) from which a ridge (crista arcuata) curves at first backward and then downward and forward to the vocal process.
The palatopharyngeal arch (pharyngopalatine arch, posterior pillar of fauces) is larger and projects further toward the middle line than the palatoglossal arch; it runs downward, lateralward, and backward to the side of the pharynx, and is formed by the projection of the palatopharyngeal muscle, covered by mucous membrane.
The posterior pillar is the palatopharyngeal arch formed of the palatopharyngeus muscle. Between these two arches on the lateral walls of the oropharynx is the tonsillar fossa which is the location of the palatine tonsil. [3] The arches are also known together as the palatine arches.
The buccopharyngeal fascia is a fascia of the pharynx. [1] It represents the posterior portion of the pretracheal fascia [2] (visceral fascia). [3] It covers the superior pharyngeal constrictor muscles, and buccinator muscle. [4]
Superiorly, the retropharyngeal space terminates at the base of the skull (more specifically, at the clivus [2]). [1] [5] Inferiorly, the true RPS terminates at a variable level along the upper thoracic spine with the fusion of alar fascia and visceral fascia; [1] sources either give the inferior termination of the true RPS as occurring at approximately the vertebral level of T4 [2] or at a ...