Arrangement and number of intralaryngeal ganglia and ganglionic neurons: comparative study of five species of mammals.

The arrangement and number of intralaryngeal ganglia and their neurons in five mammals (dog, rat, guinea pig, rabbit and cat) were examined morphologically. Intralaryngeal ganglions were situated mainly in branches of the internal branch of superior laryngeal nerve (Int-SLN), dorsal and/or dorsolateral to the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle, and around the inferior laryngeal nerve in dogs, rats, guinea pigs and cats, but they were identified at the branching out point of the Int-SLN exclusively in rabbits. The ganglion of each animal was spindle-shaped, with a surrounding fibrous capsule, and it contained many ganglionic neurons, vessels and connective tissue cells. The ganglionic neuron was oval-shaped and had a round nucleus: the diameter was smaller (20-25 microns) in the rat than in the other mammals (25-30 microns). More than 80 per cent of ganglionic neurons occurred in the supraglottis of all the animals except the rat. In the rat, this value was approximately 40 per cent.