Epiglottis (epiglottic cartilage)

Study entry

Parts

A heart-shaped elastic cartilage, covered by mucosa, posterior to the root of the tongue and the hyoid and anterior to the entrance of the larynx; it forms the upper part of the anterior wall and the upper border of the entrance. Its upper end, wide, is free; the lower, tapered, is the petiole.

Joints

The petiole attaches to the angle of the thyroid laminae by the thyroepiglottic ligament; the hyoepiglottic ligament joins the anterior surface to the hyoid. It acts as a diverting valve over the upper opening of the larynx.

Source: cap. 9, «Esqueleto laríngeo»

Other structures in this region

• Thyroid cartilage
• Cricoid cartilage
• Arytenoid, corniculate and cuneiform cartilages
• Membranes and ligaments of the larynx (conus elasticus and quadrangular membrane)
• Frontal bone
• Parietal bone
• Occipital bone
• Temporal bone