Piriform sinus

Piriform sinus
Piriform sinus, a part of hypopharynx
The entrance to the larynx, viewed from behind, with Pyriform sinus labeled at bottom left.
Details
Identifiers
Latin	recessus piriformis, sinus piriformis
TA	A05.3.01.024
FMA	55067
*Anatomical terminology* [edit on Wikidata]

On either side of the laryngeal orifice is a recess, termed the piriform sinus (also piriform recess, pyriform sinus, piriform fossa, smuggler's fossa or vallecula of throat), which is bounded medially by the aryepiglottic fold, laterally by the thyroid cartilage and thyrohyoid membrane. The fossae are involved in speech.

The term "piriform," which means "pear-shaped," is also sometimes spelled "pyriform" (as in the diagram on this page.)

Deep to the mucous membrane of the piriform fossa lie the recurrent laryngeal nerve as well as the internal laryngeal nerve, a branch of the superior laryngeal nerve.^[1] The internal laryngeal nerve supplies sensation to the area, and it may become damaged if the mucous membrane is inadvertently punctured.

The piriform sinus is a subsite of the hypopharynx. This distinction is important for head and neck cancer staging and treatment.^[2]

Clinical significance

It is a common place for food to become trapped; if foreign material becomes lodged in the piriform fossa of an infant, it may be retrieved nonsurgically. If the area is injured (e.g., by a fish bone), it can give the sensation of food stuck in the throat.

The persistency of the piriform sinus (especially on the left side) is a common cause of acute thyroiditis in children and adolescents. Local anesthesia can be given here because of the presence of internal laryngeal nerve underneath the mucous membrane.

References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

↑ Moore, K.L., & Agur, A.M.R (2007). Essential Clinical Anatomy: Third Edition. Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN 978-0-7817-6274-8
↑ AJCC Cancer Staging Handbook: From the AJCC Cancer Staging Manual, Sixth Edition. Ed. Frederick L. Greene, M.D. page 48.

External links

Anatomy photo:31:17-0105 at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center - "Pharynx: The Laryngopharynx"

Anatomy of the Gastrointestinal tract, excluding the mouth

Upper

Pharynx	Muscles Spaces peripharyngeal retropharyngeal parapharyngeal retrovisceral danger prevertebral Pterygomandibular raphe Pharyngeal raphe Buccopharyngeal fascia Pharyngobasilar fascia Piriform sinus

Esophagus	Sphincters upper lower glands

Stomach	Curvatures greater lesser Angular incisure Cardia Body Fundus Pylorus antrum canal sphincter Gastric mucosa Gastric folds Microanatomy Gastric pits Gastric glands Cardiac glands Fundic glands Pyloric glands Foveolar cell Parietal cell Gastric chief cell Enterochromaffin-like cell

Lower

Small intestine

Microanatomy	Intestinal villus Intestinal gland Enterocyte Enteroendocrine cell Goblet cell Paneth cell

Duodenum	Suspensory muscle Major duodenal papilla Minor duodenal papilla Duodenojejunal flexure Brunner's glands

Jejunum	no substructures

Ileum	Ileocecal valve Peyer's patches Microfold cell

Large

Cecum	Appendix

Colon	Ascending colon Hepatic flexure Transverse colon Splenic flexure Descending colon Sigmoid colon Continuous taenia coli haustra epiploic appendix

Rectum	Transverse folds Ampulla

Anal canal	Anus Anal columns Anal valves Anal sinuses Pectinate line Internal anal sphincter Intersphincteric groove External anal sphincter

Wall

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