True vocal cords
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Youssef D, Hacking C, Zhang R, et al. True vocal cords. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 13 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-47010
rID:
47010
Article created:
30 Jul 2016,
Dan Youssef
Disclosures:
At the time the article was created Dan Youssef had no recorded disclosures.
View Dan Youssef's current disclosures
Last revised:
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Craig Hacking had the following disclosures:
- Philips Australia, Paid speaker at Philips Spectral CT events (ongoing)
These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.
View Craig Hacking's current disclosures
Revisions:
16 times, by
8 contributors -
see full revision history and disclosures
Systems:
Sections:
Synonyms:
- vocal cord
- vocal folds
- vocal fold
The true vocal cords are the thickened, free edge of the cricovocal membrane/ligament also known as cricothyroid ligament, lined by mucous membrane 1. Together, they constitute the glottis and form the rima glottidis, which is the V-shaped aperture through which air passes. Their primary role is in phonation where vibration of the adducted vocal cords gives rise to sound waves with a certain pitch.
The cricovocal membrane, also known as conus elasticus, extends upwards from a semicircular base following the contours of the cricoid cartilage to form a horizontal upper free border attached anteriorly in the midline to thyroid cartilage and posteriorly to the vocal process of the arytenoid cartilage 1. This free edge between the thyroid laminae and the arytenoid cartilage is thickened as the cricovocal ligament 1.
Stratified squamous epithelium lines the vocal folds. The lamina propria is very firmly attached over the vocal cords.
The body of the true vocal cord contains the muscles that release tension in the cord: vocalis and thyroarytenoid muscles.
Related pathology
References
- 1. Mcminn. Last's Anatomy. Elsevier Australia. (2003) ISBN:0729537528. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
- 2. Hamdan A, Hamdan KE, Hamdan JH, Hamdan GA, Hamdan RS, Hamdan EHA, Hamdan. Prevalence of Dysphagia in Patients With Non-neoplastic Vocal Fold Pathology. (2019) Journal of voice : official journal of the Voice Foundation. doi:10.1016/j.jvoice.2018.05.003 - Pubmed
- 3. Braun J, Braun DC, Braun CA, Braun SP, Braun dBF, Braun. [Vocal cord dyskinesia and/or asthma]. (2018) Revue des maladies respiratoires. doi:10.1016/j.rmr.2017.11.001 - Pubmed
- 4. Lyu D, Lyu CY, Lyu YH, Lyu RJ, Lyu ZY, Lyu. [Research status and challenges of vocal cord leukoplakia]. (2018) Zhonghua er bi yan hou tou jing wai ke za zhi = Chinese journal of otorhinolaryngology head and neck surgery. doi:10.3760/cma.j.issn.1673-0860.2018.08.016 - Pubmed
- 5. Andrew Benner, Piyush Sharma, Sandeep Sharma. Anatomy, Head and Neck: Cervical, Respiratory, Larynx, and Cricoarytenoid. StatPearls Publishing. 2022. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538307/ - Pubmed
Incoming Links
Articles:
- Subglottis
- Ligaments of the larynx
- Laryngeal vestibule
- Glottic web
- Paraglottic space
- Supraglottis
- False vocal cords
- Point-of-care ultrasound (curriculum)
- Internal laryngeal nerve
- Rima glottidis
- Synechiae
- Laryngeal carcinoma (staging)
- Recurrent laryngeal nerve
- Arytenoid cartilage
- Vocal cord paralysis
- Glottis
- Larynx
- Anterior commissure of the larynx
- Rima vestibuli
- Thyroid cartilage
Cases:
- Vocal cords (Gray's illustration)
- Larynx (Gray's illustrations)
- Laryngeal muscles (Gray's illustration)
- Larynx - coronal CT labelled anatomy
- Vocal cord paralysis
- Normal vocal cords (ultrasound)
- Laryngeal supraglottic cancer
- Pharyngolaryngeal metallic foreign body
- Glottic cancer - Glottic cancer - stage cT1b
- Vocal cord paralysis
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