Histology of laryngeal mucosa.

The larynx is a complex tubular segment of the respiratory system formed by irregularly shaped plates of hyaline and elastic cartilage. The mucosa form two pairs of folds, false and true vocal cords, which extend into the lumen of the larynx. The laryngeal epithelium corresponding to the mechanically exposed areas consists of stratified squamous nonkeratinized epithelium. Suprabasally in this epithelium, dendritic antigen-presenting Langerhans cells (LCs) can be found. In the rest of the larynx, the epithelium is ciliated columnar pseudostratified with a rich population of goblet cells. Except in the true vocal cords, lamina propria consists of rather loose connective tissue and contains groups of small, branched tubuloalveolar glands.