[Morphological study of laryngeal ganglions and associated nerve cells in humans and five mammals].

The arrangement and numbers of intralaryngeal ganglia and associated neurons in humans and four mammals (dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs and rats) were investigated morphologically and compared with the results obtained in the cat which have been reported previously. Intralaryngeal ganglia were mostly distributed in branches of the internal branch of superior laryngeal nerve in all species, dorsal and/or dorsolateral to the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle in humans, dogs and cats and around the inferior laryngeal nerve in humans, dogs, cats, guinea pigs and rats. The total number of laryngeal ganglionic neurons was 2,000 to 2,400 in humans, 300-450 in dogs, 600-800 in cats, 250-320 in rats, and 100-150 in rabbits and guinea pigs. More than 80 percent of ganglionic neurons were present in the supraglottis in all species, except the rat, in which about 60 percent were in the subglottis. Each ganglion in all species existed within the nerve bundle, and was chiefly encapsulated with fibrous tissue, many ganglionic cells, glial cells, Schwann cells, vessels and connective tissue. The present morphological study of intralaryngeal ganglia in humans and four mammals suggests that the laryngeal ganglionic neurons have the same arrangement as in cats.