The posterior glottis: structural and clinical considerations

Despite the presence of a number of good publications during the past two decades, the posterior glottis (PG) is still not clearly appreciated in clinical laryngological practice. This study focuses on searching the literature to find out the present day awareness of the PG, as well as highlighting some of its clinical features. The investigation proceeds with two main sections: (1) critical analysis of the literature on the PG during the last 50 years (2) describing the clinical appearance and behavior of the PG in 100 normal subjects. Results of section 1 illustrate the limited awareness in the literature of the existence of PG as a distinct part of the human larynx. Results of section 2 illustrate some misconcepts related to the PG as inter-arytenoid pachydermia, change of voice with lesions in the PG. Discussion elaborates on the significance of the findings and attempts to clarify certain misconcepts about the PG, its structure, function, and clinical features. In the light of the data collected from the literature regarding the dimensions of the PG, a set of recommendations were proposed regarding the optimal sizes of the endotracheal tubes in both sexes.