Anatomy study note · Head and neck

Cricothyroid

The only intrinsic laryngeal muscle supplied by the external laryngeal nerve; it tenses the vocal cords.

Key points

• Cricoid → thyroid cartilage.
• External laryngeal nerve (exception).
• Tenses the vocal cords.
• From the fourth and sixth pharyngeal arch → vagus.
• Skeletal muscle: multinucleated, peripheral nuclei, striated.
• Epimysium → perimysium → endomysium.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Origin · Insertion · Action · Nerve supply · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 12, PDF pp. 1680, 1785–1786
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 9, PDF pp. 120, 122, 125
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 8, PDF pp. 135–144

More from the head and neck

• Deep cervical lymph nodes
• Digastric
• Dura mater
• Dural venous sinuses
• Epiglottis
• Ethmoid
• External carotid artery
• External ear
• External jugular vein
• External nose
• Eyelids and conjunctiva
• Facial bones of the orbit and nasal cavity

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