Prenatal and early postnatal morphogenesis and growth of human laryngotracheal structures

Advances in neonatal medicine have resulted in increased care of fetal and neonatal airways. These advances have required an exhaustive knowledge of fetal airway anatomy and development. The aim of this study was to determine the anatomical development of laryngotracheal structures during the fetal and immediate postnatal period and to correlate these observations with other fetal biometric parameters to estimate developmental particularities of the fetal airway. An anatomical prospective study was based on examination of larynx and trachea from 300 routine autopsies of fetuses and infants, free of malformation and never intubated. Anatomical measurements of cricoid cartilage, thyroid cartilage, glottis, arytenoid cartilage and trachea were performed using a precision calliper and precision divider. Statistical analysis was performed to represent the growth of anatomical structures and to evaluate the correlation with biometric data. Raw data and 10th and 90th percentile curves were fitted satisfactorily with a linear model for gestational age. A linear relationship between laryngotracheal measurement and body weight and height was observed except for glottis length, interarytenoid distance and anterior cricoid height. The diameter of the cricoid lumen was significantly less than that of the trachea and glottis lumen. A sexual dysmorphism was noted for thyroid cartilage measurements and interarytenoid distance, with measurements significantly smaller in females. This study reports the anatomical development of normal laryngotracheal structures during the fetal period. Despite the fact that this study was performed during postmortem examination, these observations can be useful to develop criteria, materials and surgical procedures adapted to fetal and neonatal airways as well as for the purposes of early diagnosis and management of laryngotracheal malformations.