title: Recurrent laryngeal nerve landmarks revisited.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this work was to evaluate, to prove their reliability, the different surgical landmarks previously proposed as a mean to locate the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN).
  
  
  METHODS
  The necks of 143 (68 male and 76 female) human adult embalmed cadavers were examined. RLN origin and length and its relationship to different landmarks were recorded and results compared with those previously reported. Statistical comparisons were performed using the chi-square test (significance, p ≤ .05).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mostly, RLN is located anterior to the tracheoesophageal sulcus (41.6%), posterior to the inferior thyroid artery (35.8%), lateral to Berry's ligament (88.1%), below the inferior rim of the inferior constrictor muscle (90.4%), and entering the larynx before its terminal division (54.6%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The position of the RLN in relation to those structures classically considered as landmarks is highly variable. The most reliable relationships are those with Berry's ligament or the inferior constrictor muscle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy and Embriology I, Faculty of Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Asgharpour
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maranillo
authors.forename: Jose
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sañudo
authors.forename: Aran
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pascual-Font
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Niedenführ
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Valderrama
authors.forename: Fermin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Viejo
authors.forename: Ian G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Parkin
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vázquez
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002102:Cadaver; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007830:Larynx / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012009:Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000601:surgery; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000379:methods*