Concept

Cricoid cartilage

The cricoid cartilage ˌkraɪkɔɪd_ˈkɑːrtɪlɪdʒ, or simply cricoid (from the Greek krikoeides meaning "ring-shaped") or cricoid ring, is the only complete ring of cartilage around the trachea. It forms the back part of the voice box and functions as an attachment site for muscles, cartilages, and ligaments involved in opening and closing the airway and in producing speech. The cricoid cartilage is the only laryngeal cartilage to form a complete circle around the airway. It is smaller yet thicker and tougher than the thyroid cartilage above. It articulates superiorly with the thyroid cartilage, and the paired arytenoid cartilage. Inferiorly, the trachea attaches onto it. It occurs at the level of the C6 vertebra. The posterior part of the cricoid cartilage (cricoid lamina) is somewhat broader than the anterior and lateral part (cricoid arch). Its shape is said to resemble a signet ring. The cricoid arch is the curved and vertically narrow anterior portion of the cricoid cartilage. Anteriorly, it measures 5-7 mm superoinferiorly; it becomes wider on eithers side towards its transition into the cricoid lamina of that side. The superior margin of the cricoid arch is rather elliptical in outline; the inferior margin is nearly horizontal and circular in outline. The cricoid arch is palpable inferior to the laryngeal prominence, with an interval containing a depression (beneath which is the conus elasticus) between the two. The cricoid lamina is the roughly quadrilateral broader and flatter posterior portion of the cricoid cartilage. It measures 2-3 cm superoposteriorly. The cricoid lamina exhibits a midline vertical ridge posteriorly; the ridge creates posterior concavities to either side. It is anatomically related to the thyroid gland; although the thyroid isthmus is inferior to it, the two lobes of the thyroid extend superiorly on each side of the cricoid as far as the thyroid cartilage above. The thyroid cartilage and cricoid cartilage are connected medially by the median cricothyroid ligament, and postero-laterally by the cricothyroid joints.

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