The Pharynx

• The pharynx is the continuation of the digestive system from the oral cavity.
• It is a funnel-shaped fibromuscular tube that is the common route for both food and air.
• The pharynx is located posterior to the nasal and oral cavities, and the larynx.

• For the convenience of description, the pharynx is divided into three parts: (1) the nasopharynx, posterior to the nose and superior to the soft palate; (2) the oropharynx, posterior to the mouth; and (3) the laryngopharynx, posterior to the larynx.

• The pharynx is about 15 cm long.
• It extends from the base of the skull to the inferior border of the cricoid cartilage anteriorly, and to the inferior border of C6 vertebra posteriorly.
• It is widest (about 5 cm) opposite the hyoid bone and narrowest (about 1.5) at its inferior end, where it is continuous with the oesophagus.

• The posterior wall of the pharynx lies against the prevertebral fascia, with the potential retropharyngeal space between them.

-> This is a wedge-shaped bone (G. sphen, wedge) is located anteriorly to the temporal bones.
-> It is a key bone in the cranium because it articulates with eight bones (frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital, vomer, zygomatic, palatine, and ethmoid).
-> It main parts are the body and the greater and lesser wings, which spread laterally from the body.
-> The superior surface of its body is shaped like a Turkish saddle (L. sella, a saddle); hence its name sella turcica.
-> It forms the hypophyseal fossa which contains the hypophysis cerebri or pituitary gland.
-> The sella turcica is bounded posteriorly by the dorsum sellae, a square plate of bone that projects superiorly and has a posterior clinoid process on each side.
-> Inside the body of the sphenoid bone, there are right and left sphenoid sinuses. The floor of the sella turcica forms the roof of these paranasal sinuses.
-> Studies of the sella turcica and hypophyseal fossa in radiographs or by other imaging techniques are important because they may reflect pathological changes such as a pituitary tumour or an aneurysm of the internal carotid artery. Decalcification of the dorsum sellae is one of the signs of a generalised increase in intracranial pressure.

Smooth Muscle

Light microscopic Structure:

cells - long - spindle shaped,  nucleus lies in the widest widest part of the fiber,  when the fiber contract the nucleus become folded, 30 - 200 µm long,between fibres lie endomycium

Electron microscopic structure:

 Mitochondria, ribosomes, golgi, rough EPR, myofilaments are present but no sarcomeres and no Z lines,thin filaments - actin and tropomyosin (7nm), thick filaments - myosin (17nmØ)

- intermediate filaments (10 nm)

- actin and myosin overlap more than in skeletal muscle and can therefore contract more

 A rudimentary sacroplasmic reticulum is present in the form of invaginations on the surface called caveolae , So there are no T-tubules,  Cells communicate through gap junctions.

Dense bodies

Filaments are attached to dense bodies which take the place of the Z line in skeletal muscle

There are two types of dense bodies - cytoplasmic and membrane

contains a percentage actinin (like the Z line)

dense bodies transmit contractile force to adjacent fibres

Arrangement:

Fibres can be single or in groups, normally arranged in sheaths,  In the GIT are 2 or 3 layers

Nerve supply:

2 types:

Where it is arranged in layers a few fibres are innervated together

impulse spread through the gap junctions between fibres (slow contraction)

In the iris and the vas deferens each fiber is individually supplied (quick contraction)

The Auditory Tube

• This is a funnel-shaped tube connecting the nasopharynx to the tympanic cavity.

• Its wide end is towards the nasopharynx, where it opens posterior to the inferior meatus of the nasal cavity.
• The auditory tube is 3.5 to 4 cm long; its posterior 1/3 is bony and the other 2/3 is cartilaginous.
• It bony part lies in a groove on the inferior aspect of the base of the skull, between the petrous part of the temporal bone and the greater wing of the sphenoid bone.

• The function of the auditory tube is to equalise pressure of the middle ear with atmospheric pressure.

Movements of the Temporomandibular Joint

• The two movements that occur at this joint are anterior gliding and a hinge-like rotation.
• When the mandible is depressed during opening of the mouth, the head of the mandible and articular disc move anteriorly on the articular surface until the head lies inferior to the articular tubercle.

• As this anterior gliding occurs, the head of the mandible rotates on the inferior surface of the articular disc.
• This permits simple chewing or grinding movements over a small range.

• Movements that are seen in this joint are: depression, elevation, protrusion, retraction and grinding

• The six muscles rotate the eyeball in the orbit around three axes (sagittal, horizontal and vertical).
• The action of the muscles can be deduced by their site of insertion on the eyeball.