Malkidou Nymfodora, Fiska Aliki, Vassiou Katerina
Anatomy, Anatomy Laboratory, Medical School University of Thessaly, Larissa, GRC.
Anatomy, School of Medicine-Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, GRC.
Cureus. 2025 Feb 4;17(2):e78525. doi: 10.7759/cureus.78525. eCollection 2025 Feb.
The arytenoid cartilages are distinguished by their mobility and unique mixed composition of hyaline and elastic cartilage. Though laryngeal cartilage ossification is not rare, and its pattern is well-studied, sole complete and bilateral arytenoid cartilage ossification is an aberration. An 84-year-old woman, with no history of voice or breathing issues, was brought to the emergency department for a head-and-neck trauma following a fall. CT scans revealed a subdural hematoma and, incidentally, a bilateral ossification of the arytenoid cartilages, sparing the vocal processes but involving complete ossification of the hyaline part and the tip. The cricoid cartilage was non-ossified, and the thyroid depicted minor ossification. We present a unique, previously undocumented case of both arytenoid cartilages simultaneously ossified in a patient without laryngeal pathology. In previous studies on laryngeal cartilage ossification during aging, no cases have demonstrated either bilateral complete ossification of the arytenoid cartilages or arytenoid ossification occurring before that of the thyroid and cricoid cartilages. Ossification is an age-related process; our case's ossification pattern does not align with the expected final stage. The involvement of the arytenoid tip is also an exceptional observation. The unique anatomical variation in the laryngeal ossification pattern underlines that arytenoid cartilage ossification may be complete and bilateral and precede that of the thyroid or cricoid cartilage. It could be the only notable feature on a neck scan of a patient with no history of laryngeal disorders.
杓状软骨以其可动性以及透明软骨和弹性软骨独特的混合成分而著称。虽然喉软骨骨化并不罕见，其模式也已得到充分研究，但单纯的双侧杓状软骨完全骨化却是一种异常情况。一名84岁女性，无声音或呼吸问题史，因跌倒后头部和颈部外伤被送往急诊科。CT扫描显示硬膜下血肿，偶然发现双侧杓状软骨骨化，声带突未受累，但透明软骨部分和尖端完全骨化。环状软骨未骨化，甲状腺有轻微骨化。我们报告了一例独特的、此前未记录的病例，即一名无喉部病变的患者双侧杓状软骨同时骨化。在以往关于衰老过程中喉软骨骨化的研究中，没有病例显示双侧杓状软骨完全骨化，也没有病例显示杓状软骨骨化先于甲状腺软骨和环状软骨。骨化是一个与年龄相关的过程；我们病例的骨化模式与预期的最终阶段不一致。杓状软骨尖端受累也是一个特殊的观察结果。喉骨化模式的独特解剖变异表明，杓状软骨骨化可能是完全性双侧的，并且先于甲状腺软骨或环状软骨。它可能是无喉部疾病史患者颈部扫描中唯一值得注意的特征。
