Ossification and calcification of the laryngeal skeleton.

Low voltage radiography of the neck was performed in 64 patients (48 males, 16 females) aged over 34 years. The degree and frequency of ossification of the thyroid and cricoid cartilage were lower in the females than in the males, especially in the anterior parts of the cartilages. The arytenoids were ossified or calcified in all females and in 94 per cent of the males. Dense homogeneous appearance of the arytenoids was present in 74 per cent of the females and 19 per cent of the males, probably due to a marked calcification of the cartilages.