18. Airway radiograph, lateral projection
The exposure technique for this film (and for Image
#19, the AP projection of the same study) allows for better visualization
of the soft tissues and airway. There are nine laryngeal cartilages; in this
study only the cricoid is distinctly visualized because it is calcified.
It consists of a shallow arch anteriorly and a broad lamina posteriorly. The
leaf-shaped epiglottis can just be discerned by its contour behind the
root of the tongue. The laryngeal ventricles cast an ovoid radiolucent
shadow at the level of the C5 vertebra. Each is a small recess in the lateral
wall of the larynx between the vestibular and vocal folds, and their shadows
superimpose on this lateral projection. The hyoid is the only bone having
no articulation with any other bone. Note that this would be an incomplete lateral
study of the cervical spine since the foramen magnum and C7 vertebra are not
entirely visualized.
