CONTENTS

 INTRODUCTION
 EXTENT & RELATIONS
 DIVISIONS
 PHARYNGEAL WALL
 MUSCULATURE
 NASOPHARYNX
 OROPHARYNX
 LARYNGOPHARYNX
 VASCULAR SUPPLY
 NERVE SUPPLY
 WALDEYER’S RING
 DETECTIVE DOCTORS
 APPLIED ANATOMY
 FUN FACT
PHARYNX- Introduction
 A musculomembranous tube
 12–14 cm long
 Extent: Cranial base to the
level of the C6 vertebra i.e.
lower border of the cricoid
cartilage where it is continuous
with the oesophagus.
 A common passage for both
food and air.
 Lined my mucous throughout.
 Situated posterior to the nasal
and oral cavities.
AIR

FOOD
 Widest part-superior most with a
diameter-3.5 cm
 NARROWEST part of GIT-Its
junction with oesophagus-1.5 cm.

 RELATIONS-
 Sup: Posterior part of the sphenoid
body and the basilar part of the
occipital bone.
 Inf: continuous with the oesophagus.
 Post: C1-C6 vertebra & prevertebral
fascia covering longus colli and
capitis.
 Ant: opens into the nasal cavity,
mouth and larynx.
 It is attached, from above downwards
on each side to: the medial pterygoid
plate, pterygomandibular raphe,
mandible, tongue, hyoid bone, thyroid
and cricoid cartilages.
DIVISIONS
 PHARYNX

 Nasopharynx:  Oropharynx: • Laryngopharynx:

lies above the extends from the extends from the
soft palate and soft palate to the superior border of
behind the upper border of the epiglottis to
posterior nares the epiglottis. the inferior
(choanae). border of the
cricoid cartilage.
 THE PHARYNGEAL WALL
 The pharyngeal wall has,
from within outwards,
mucous, fibrous and
muscular layers, and finally
a thin buccopharyngeal
fascia external to the
constrictor muscles.
 It covers all around the
pharynx and its main action
is to propel the food into
oesophagus.
 THE MUCOUS LAYER
 The mucosa is continuous with that lining the
pharyngotympanic tubes, nasal cavity, mouth and larynx.
 The nasopharyngeal epithelium is anteriorly ciliated,
pseudostratified 'respiratory' in type, with goblet cells and
receiving the ducts of mucosal and submucosal seromucous
glands.
 There is a transition in the posterior region of the nasopharynx
to non-keratinized stratified squamous epithelium which
continues to cover the surfaces of the oropharynx and
laryngopharynx.
 Between the two types of epithelium there is a transitional zone
of columnar epithelium with short microvilli instead of cilia.
 THE FASCIAE
 Pharyngobasilar fascia
 Buccopharyngeal fascia
 Pre- vertebral fascia
 Retro- pharyngeal space
 PHARYNGEAL MUSCULATURE

 CONSTRICTORS  LONGITUDINAL
MUSCLES
Superiorconstrictor  Stylopharyngeus

Middle constrictor  Palatopharyngeus

Inferior constrictor 

Thyropharyngeus Cricopharyngeus Salphingopharynge

us
 SUPERIOR CONSTRICTOR
 It’s a muscle which forms
the wall of naso and oro- 4 PARTS ORIGIN
pharynx.
Pterygopharyngeal Pterygoid hamulus
 Course of fibres: fibres
curve back into the median Pterygomandib
pharyngeal raphe; some Buccopharyngeal ular raphe
Mandible near
are also prolonged by an
 mylopharyngeal the mylohyoid
aponeurosis to the line
pharyngeal tubercle on the Few fibres from

basilar part of the occipital glossopharyngeal side of tongue

bone.
THE PHARYNGEAL(MIDLINE)
RAPHE
 SINUS OF MORGAGNI

 Crescentric interval
between sup.
Constrictor and base of
skull above is filled up
by
 Condensed
pharyngobasilar fascia
 Tensor veli palatini
 Levator veli palatini
 Auditiory tube
 PASSAVANT’S RIDGE
 A constant band of muscle sweeps backwards from the upper
surface of the palatine aponeurosis, to blend internally with the
superior constrictor near its superior border .This band is the
palatopharyngeal sphincter
 It ridges the pharyngeal wall (ridge of Passavant) visibly when
the soft palate is elevated.
 The change from, 'respiratory' epithelium to oral epithelium
on the superior palatal aspect occurs at the attachment of the
palatopharyngeal sphincter to the palate.
MIDDLE CONSTRICTOR

 FAN shaped muscle

 Anteriorly to the lesser horn of the hyoid
and the lower part of the stylohyoid
ligament and to the whole upper border of
the greater horn of the hyoid
 It is inserted posteriorly into the median
pharyngeal raphe with its opposite partner.
 Course of fibres :
 Lower fibres - descend deep to the inferior constrictor to the
lower end of the pharynx,
 Middle fibres -pass transversely
 Superior fibres ascend and overlap the superior constrictor.
 Gap between the middle and superior constrictors
 Glossopharyngeal nerve
 Stylopharyngeus muscle
 Between the middle and inferior constrictors
 Internal laryngeal nerve
 Superior laryngeal artery
 INFERIOR CONSTRICTOR

Thyropharyngeus Cricopharyngeus
 From oblique line of - From the side of cricoid
thyroid cartilage cartilage
- Fascia covering
cricothyroid
- Fibres are inserted into the midline raphe posteriorly.
 Killian's dehiscence
 Thyropharyngeus –propulsive action, Cricopharyngeus-
constrictive action
 Incoordination between the two-ZENKER’S DIVERTICULUM
ZENKERS DIVERTICULUM
Pharyngeal Wall-THE GAPS
LONGITUDINAL MUSCLES
NASO PHARYNX
 The Nasopharynx
The nasal part of the pharynx has a respiratory
function.
•It lies superior to the soft palate and is a
posterior extension of the nasal cavity.
•The nose opens into the nasopharynx via to
large posterior apertures called choanae.
•The roof and posterior wall of the nasopharynx
form a continuous surface that lies inferior to the
body of the sphenoid bone and the basilar part of
the occipital bone.
 CONTENTS

•Pharyngeal tonsil
•Pharyngeal orifice of the auditory tube
•Tubal elevation - torus tubarius
•Talpingopharyngeal fold.
•Tubal tonsil
•Pharyngeal recess
 OROPHARYNX

 It extends from the soft palate to the upper

border of the epiglottis.(C2-C3 level)
 Communications
 Common passage for both food and air and
here it crosses each other.
 Lining
 Palatine tonsil
 Vallecula
LARYNGO PHARYNX
PYRIFORM FOSSA
 NERVE SUPPLY
 BY PHARYNGEAL PLEXUS
 Pharyngeal branch of vagus, cranial accessory N.,
glossopharyngeal N., superior cervical sympathetic ganglion.
 Motor-
 Glossopharyngeal- Stylopharyngeus muscle
 cranial accessory N.- All other pharyngeal muscles
 General Sensory- IX & X CRANIAL NERVES
 Taste – Vagus
 Parasympathetic- lesser petrosal and greater palatine
nerves.
 BLOOD SUPPLY
 Ascending pharyngeal A. of External carotid A.
 Ascending palatine and tonsillar branches of
Facial A.
 Dorsal lingual branches of Lingual A.
 Greater palatine, pharyngeal and pterygoid
branches of Maxillary A.
 Venous drainage- by pharyngeal plexus of
veins on its posterior wall and empties into the
Internal Jugular vein.
 The Palatine Tonsils
These are usually referred to as "the tonsils".
•They are collections of lymphoid tissue the lie
on each side of the oropharynx in the triangular
interval between the palatine arches.
•The palatine tonsils vary in size from person to
person.
•In children, the palatine tonsils tend to be
large, whereas in older persons they are usual
small and inconspicuous.
•The visible part of the tonsil is no guide to its
actual size because much of it may be hidden by
the tongue and buried in the soft palate.
SWALLOWING
intro_250_Swallow.swf
A medical student was celebrating the end of
midterm exams with her friends in a
seafood restaurant when she started
feeling a prickling sensation in her neck
after swallowing a large bite of smoked
fish. The pain was getting worse, and
attempts to clear it with drinks failed. At
the emergency room a plain X-ray of her
neck showed a tiny fish bone lodged in
the lower part of the pharynx. The bone
was quickly removed under general
anesthesia, and the patient was
discharged a few hours later.
Questions to consider:
1. Which are the most usual places for swallowed foreign
bodies to be lodged?
The piriform recess and the valleculae on either side of the
median glosso-epiglottic fold.
1. What is the piriform
recess?
This is a small, pear-
shaped depression of the
laryngopharyngeal
cavity on each side of
the inlet of the larynx. It
is separated from the
inlet by the aryepiglottic
fold. Laterally the
piriform recess is
bounded by the medial
surfaces of the thyroid
cartilage and the
thyrohyoid membrane.
1. Fish bones and other foreign bodies may pierce the
mucous membrane of the recess and cause injury to
the internal laryngeal nerve. What are the possible
consequences of this injury?
Injury to the internal laryngeal nerve will result in
anesthesia of the laryngeal mucous membrane as
far inferiorly as the vocal folds.
RADIOLOGY
 APPLIED ANATOMY
 Zenkers diverticulum
 Aspiration pneumonia
 Pharyngeal cancer
JUST SERIOUSLY CHILLING
PRESENTATION BY
WE TAKE THIS OPPURTUNITY TO THANK OUR
BELOVED Dr.T.L.ANBBUMANI SIR FOR BEING
OUR POLE STAR AND ALL STAFFS OF OUR
ANATOMY DEPARTMENT FOR THEIR FULLEST
SUPPORT THAT THEY HAVE GIVEN AND ARE GOING TO
GIVE IN OUR FUTURE ENDEAVOURS