A 4-month-old male infant is brought to the clinic because of excessive noisy respiration. On examination, the infant is within the normal range of growth, appears healthy, and does not show respiratory distress. Phonation is normal, along with head and neck examination findings. However, the child displays stridor (highpitched breathing sound) on inspiration, accentuated in the supine position. The parents report that the same stridor is heard during feeding or when the child is agitated. The attending physician places the child in the prone position and the stridor is relieved. To confirm, she holds the child in a neck extended position, which also relieves the stridor. An endoscopic laryngeal examination reveals bulky arytenoids cartilages and the diagnosis of laryngomalacia is established. During development, the arytenoids cartilages arise from which of the following?
- first pharyngeal arch
- second pharyngeal arch
- third pharyngeal arch
- fifth pharyngeal arch
- sixth pharyngeal arch
Answer(s): E
Explanation:
The arytenoid cartilages arise as swellings from the sixth pharyngeal (branchial) arch at 32 days of gestation. They are located between the caudal end of the hypobranchial eminence and the cranial end of the laryngotracheal tube. The swellings will grow cranially to form the arytenoids and corniculate cartilages along with the primitive aryepiglottic folds. In laryngomalacia, the bulky arytenoids cartilages prolapsed anteromedially on inspiration, resulting in stridor. The first (choice A), second (choice B), and third (choice C) pharyngeal arches do not participate in the development of laryngeal cartilages. The fifth (choice D) pharyngeal arch remains rudimentary and does not give rise to any adult structure.
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