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Transverse arytenoid: anatomy, location and function

An unpaired intrinsic laryngeal muscle crossing between the arytenoid cartilages. Adducts the arytenoid cartilages, closing the posterior part of the rima glottidis.

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Highlighted in the model: Transverse arytenoid. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

Transverse arytenoid at a glance

What it is
An unpaired intrinsic laryngeal muscle crossing between the arytenoid cartilages.
Location
Runs between the posterior surfaces of the two arytenoid cartilages.
Function
Adducts the arytenoid cartilages, closing the posterior part of the rima glottidis.
Body system
Muscular · single, midline structure
FMA ID
FMA46582 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • Innervation: recurrent laryngeal nerve (CN X)
  • It is the only unpaired intrinsic muscle of the larynx.
  • It lies deep to the crossing oblique arytenoid muscles.

Structures next to the transverse arytenoid

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Transverse arytenoid (FMA46582). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §11.2 Naming Skeletal Muscles. Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.

Related anatomy

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.