Piriform sinus

On either side of the laryngeal orifice is a recess, termed the piriform sinus (also piriform recess, pyriform sinus, or piriform fossa), which is bounded medially by the aryepiglottic fold, laterally by the thyroid cartilage and hyothyroid membrane.

The term "piriform" is also sometimes spelled "pyriform" (as in the diagram on this page.)

Clinical significance

It is a common place where food can be trapped or if injured (eg., by a fish bone), can give the sensation of food stuck in the throat.Moreover it is place for lodgement of precarious drugs during smuggling. Accidently ingested foreign material by infants also lodges in piriform fossa and is retrieved from there

External links

• - "Pharynx: The Laryngopharynx"