International Journal of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery | February 2021 | Vol 7 | Issue 2 Page 287
International Journal of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery
Sahoo S et al. Int J Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2021 Feb;7(2):287-291
http://www.ijorl.com
pISSN 2454-5929 | eISSN 2454-5937
Original Research Article
Morphometic cadaveric analysis of thyroid cartilage in Indian adults
with comparative review of studies on other ethnic population
Satyanjaya Sahoo
1
*, Ajay Mallick
2
, Ashwani Sethi
3
, Himanshu Joshi
4
, Aroma Ghotra
5
INTRODUCTION
A thorough knowledge of relevant surgical anatomy is a
must for any surgeon before practising any surgical
procedures. The larynx is one of the most complex organs
of the human body, both anatomically and
physiologically.
1
Understanding the morphology of the
thyroid cartilage is absolutely necessary before
contemplating the intricate laryngeal framework surgeries
(LFS) where in precision and exact measurements are
essential for optimum results. Hence it is imperative that
the morphometric study of the thyroid cartilage, the
largest among all laryngeal cartilages, is essential. It is
useful for, reconstructive and ENT surgeons and also for
radiologists to plan and perform advanced surgical
procedures, and to analysis imaging of larynx. Most of
the relevant anatomic details for LFS are based on
Western population and the studies pertaining to Indian
ABSTRACT
Background: The larynx besides being used in respiration, performs the function of production of voice. A thorough
knowledge of relevant surgical anatomy is a must for any surgeon before performing laryngeal framework surgery
(LFS). Most of the relevant anatomic details for LFS are based on Western population and the studies based on Indian
population are extremely scarce. We propose to undertake this study in order to understand the relevant anatomy of
the thyroid cartilage in adult Indian population and to compare these dimensions with those studied in the western
population as available in literature.
Methods: Fifty-two samples of adult thyroid cartilage (35 males and 17 females) taken from cadavers were analysed.
Digital Vernier callipers & goniometer were used to take morphometric measurements of the Thyroid cartilage to see
for normal variation, sex differences and bilateral asymmetry. Observation were analysed by calculating mean & SD.
Results: Most parameters measured in thyroid cartilage did not show significant difference in males & females. All
the parameters of thyroid cartilage except thyroid angle were higher in males than females. Bilateral asymmetry in the
size of thyroid lamina was seen in majority of specimens though not statistically significant.
Conclusions: The detailed study of thyroid cartilage in the form of morphometric parameters of thyroid cartilage is
useful for anatomists, radiologists, reconstructive and ENT surgeons. Comparison with other populations in the world
reveals that the absolute values differ in different populations which could be due to differences in body built, racial
differences and age group of cadavers.
Keywords: Larynx, Morphometry, Thyroid cartilage, Thyroid laminae
1
Department of ENT, Military Hospital, Shillong, Meghalaya, India
2
Department of ENT, Military Hospital, Secunderabad, Telangana, India
3
Army College of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
4
Department of ENT, Military Hospital, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India
5
Military Base Hospital, Tezpur, Assam, India
Received: 19 November 2020
Revised: 30 December 2020
Accepted: 31 December 2020
*Correspondence:
Dr. Satyanjaya Sahoo,
E-mail: mallick_doc@yahoo.com
Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under
the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/issn.2454-5929.ijohns20210158