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Thyrohyoid Membrane

Last Updated: Jun 23, 2015

The thyrohyoid membrane is also known as the hyothyroid membrane; it’s a wide, elastic, fibrous layer which is connected at the bottom to the thyroid cartilage’s upper edge and to the front of its superior cornu. At the top, this membrane is connected to rear surface of the greater cornua and the body of the hyoid bone (so it passes behind the posterior of the hyoid body). A mucous bursa separates the membrane and the hyoid bone, so that the larynx’s upward movement during swallowing is made easier.mycontentbreak The thick middle part of the thyrohyoid membrane is called the middle thyrohyoid ligament, or the middle hyrothyroid ligament, and its lateral (and thinner) portions are pierced by the superior laryngeal blood vessels and the superior laryngeal nerve’s internal branch.