ABSTRACT
The infant larynx presents some different aspects compared to the adult. Its location is higher in the neck, the cricoid cartilage being located approximately at the fourth cervical vertebra. With the growth of the child, the cricoid cartilage will gradually descend to the level of the seventh cervical vertebra, which is the location in adulthood. The size of the larynx in the newborn is about 1/3 of that in the adult. Their structures such as the vocal process of arytenoid, cuneiform cartilage, the arytenoids, and the soft tissue that makes up the supraglottic larynx are also bigger. The epiglottis is proportionally more posterior and narrower and more tubular or omega-shaped (Figure 45.1).
