title: Anatomical study of meandering and functions of human intralaryngeal artery.
abstract: In recent years, partial laryngectomy and partial reconstruction are increasingly intended for conservation of functions of phonation and swallowing. In partial reconstruction, it is important to comprehend morphological characteristics of the blood vessels distributed in the larynx, but there have been only few reports discussing detailed information about them. Previous reports on laryngeal blood vessels have shown that branches of some arteries show remarkable "meandering". In the present study, we devised a method for objectively determining the morphological nature, "meandering" and assessed functions of the arteries. Intralaryngeal arteries were excised from the larynx of cadavers prepared for practice in anatomy, and images of the "meandering" artery were analyzed with NIH Image. The extent of "meandering" was expressed mainly as the ratio of the total length of the blood vessel to the distance between the starting point and the end point of meandering. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the extent of meandering between superior posterior and medial posterior branches of superior laryngeal artery. These arteries, which were distributed in the arytenoid region, were found to be of primary importance in partial laryngectomy and partial reconstruction of the larynx.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Kanagawa Dental College, 82 Inaoka, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, 238-8580, Japan. akira-iimura@tbc.t-com.ne.jp
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iimura
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Hayato
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Terayama
authors.forename: Yoichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Gu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Yoichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Tsuneo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimada
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001158:Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D004210:Dissection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D007820:Laryngeal Mucosa / Q000098:blood supply; D007821:Laryngeal Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000098:blood supply; D007830:Larynx / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000098:blood supply*; D008875:Middle Aged; D013957:Thyroid Cartilage / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000098:blood supply