Anatomy study note · Head and neck

Pharynx

A funnel-shaped musculomembranous tube behind the nose, mouth and larynx, from the skull base to C6, where it continues as the oesophagus. Nasopharynx, oropharynx and laryngopharynx.

Key points

• Naso-, oro-, laryngopharynx; ends at C6.
• Constrictors → pharyngeal raphe.
• All muscles vagus except stylopharyngeus (IX).
• Piriform fossa traps foreign bodies.
• Pharynx: cranial foregut.
• Branchial cyst: cervical sinus remnant.
• Nasopharynx: respiratory epithelium. Oro/laryngopharynx: stratified squamous.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Features · Nerve supply · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 12, PDF pp. 1751–1760
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 9, PDF pp. 126–127; ch. 12, PDF p. 173
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 15, PDF p. 270

More from the head and neck

• Phrenic nerve
• Pineal body
• Piriform cortex
• Pituitary gland
• Platysma
• Pons
• Postcentral gyrus
• Posterior cerebral artery
• Posterior cricoarytenoid
• Precentral gyrus
• Retina
• Salpingopharyngeus

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