AN EXTENSIVE study of the literature yields convincing evidence of a need for revision in the description and nomenclature of certain lesions of the larynx, from the viewpoint of both anatomic location and histologic change. It is the purpose of this paper to review 32 cases of laryngeal pathology evidencing tissue changes in the interarytenoid space in an effort to approach the problems of this area.
The laryngologist speaks commonly of the anterior and posterior commissures. Webster's New World Dictionary states under the definition of commissure: "In anatomy, a band of fibers joining symmetrical parts, as of the right and left sides of the brain and spinal cord." One might justify this reference to the wide interarytenoid space as the posterior commissure. All too frequently, however, the vocal processes of the arytenoids or posterior extremities of the true cords are mistakenly considered a part of the "posterior commissure."
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