Gross anatomical observations of attachments of the middle pharyngeal constrictor.
The pharyngeal muscles overlap each other and some of their parts have different areas of origin. Such arrangements make the interrelationships among pharyngeal muscles complicated. This study investigated the attachments of the middle constrictor to clarify its configuration and re-examine its functions. The gross anatomies of the pharyngeal and neighboring muscles were examined in 41 cadavers. The middle constrictor arose from the stylohyoid ligament and the hyoid bone, and its fibers were divided into three overlapping groups. The anterosuperior group ascended posterosuperiorly from the ligament and the lesser horn and fanned out. The middle group ascended posterosuperiorly from the greater horn and fanned out. The posteroinferior group fanned out from the posterior part of the greater horn, while the middle constrictor arose internally to the hyoglossus; some fibers often passed externally, and their fibers sometimes intersected around the lingual artery, which ran between them. Some fibers attached to the hyoglossus, occasionally to the stylohyoid and the posterior belly of the digastric, but seldom to the lingual artery and the triticeal cartilage in the thyrohyoid ligament. The three groups were inserted into the pharyngeal raphe, and the descending fibers joined the longitudinal pharyngeal muscles. The ascending and descending fibers rarely reached the top of the pharynx and the thyroid cartilage, respectively. The fiber arrangement suggested that, besides constriction of the pharynx, the ascending and descending fibers of the middle constrictor can act as an elevator muscle, and the irregular attachments could affect the functions of the muscles and vessels.