INNERVATION OF THE LARYNX: III. EXPERIMENTAL PARALYSIS OF THE LARYNGEAL NERVE

The first obstacle to an understanding of the problem of paralysis of the laryngeal nerves is the lack of agreement as to the innervation of the laryngeal muscles. The classic dictum of Ónodi,1however, may be accepted as accurate. His conclusions are based on extensive clinical and experimental evidence and agree with my own findings.2All the laryngeal muscles are innervated unilaterally by the recurrent laryngeal nerve except the cricothyroid muscle, which is supplied by the corresponding external ramus of the superior laryngeal nerve. As the interarytenoid is a midline muscle, it is innervated by both the right and the left recurrent laryngeal nerve. The findings of two other investigators, however, are often quoted as established facts. Exner3believed that each laryngeal muscle was bilaterally and doubly supplied by both the superior and the recurrent laryngeal nerves. More recent investigations discredit his results, however, because of the