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piriform sinus
Friday 24 March 2017
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The piriform sinus is a subsite of the hypopharynx. This distinction is important for head and neck cancer staging and treatment.
On either side of the laryngeal orifice is a recess, termed the piriform sinus (also piriform recess, pyriform sinus, piriform fossa, smuggler’s fossa or vallecula of throat), which is bounded medially by the aryepiglottic fold, laterally by the thyroid cartilage and thyrohyoid membrane. The fossae are involved in speech.
The term "piriform," which means "pear-shaped," is also sometimes spelled "pyriform" (as in the diagram on this page.)
Deep to the mucous membrane of the piriform fossa lie the recurrent laryngeal nerve as well as the internal laryngeal nerve, a branch of the superior laryngeal nerve.
The internal laryngeal nerve supplies sensation to the area, and it may become damaged if the mucous membrane is inadvertently punctured.