Cricoarythenoid Muscle, Superior View

Description

Seen from a superior perspective, the male larynx is opened to the level of the rima glottidis, with the paired vocal folds running anteroposteriorly from the anterior commissure at the thyroid cartilage to the vocal processes of the arytenoid cartilages posteriorly. Posterior to the glottic opening, the arytenoid cartilages sit on the superior lamina of the cricoid, and the cricoarytenoid musculature spans between them with distinct fascicles, including oblique and transverse fibers across the interarytenoid region and cricoarytenoid fibers along the posterolateral rim. White connective tissue bands outline the vocal ligament and adjacent laryngeal membranes, while tendonous insertions cluster around the muscular process of the arytenoid. Orientation is clean: anterior thyroid framework, posterior arytenoid complex. Superior views like this matter because they link muscle action to vocal fold position in a way sagittal drawings cannot, letting you track how arytenoid rotation and gliding change the width of the rima glottidis during phonation and respiration. The posterior cricoarytenoid is the sole abductor of the vocal folds, so edema, intubation trauma, or recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy produces a predictable failure of abduction with inspiratory stridor; the interarytenoid (transverse and oblique) fibers then become central when teaching posterior glottic closure and aspiration risk. Small muscles. Big consequences. Use this illustration for laryngeal anatomy and voice science teaching in head and neck blocks, speech-language pathology curricula, and anesthesia training modules focused on intubation landmarks and post-intubation dysphonia. It also supports ENT texts describing arytenoid adduction procedures and injection laryngoplasty by clarifying where the vocal process sits relative to surrounding muscle and cartilage. Anatomical accuracy verified by SciePro's Medical Advisory Board.