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Airway Protective Mechanisms

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Abstract

Cough and swallow are highly coordinated reflex behaviors whose common purpose is to protect the airway. The pharynx is the common tube for air and food/liquid movement from the mouth into the thorax, has been largely overlooked, and is potentially seen as just a passive space. The thyropharyngeus muscle responds to cough inducing stimuli to prepare a transient holding area for material that has been removed from the subglottic airway. The cricopharyngeus muscle participates with the larynx to ensure regulation of pressure when a bolus/air is moving from the upper airway through to the thorax (i.e., inspiration or swallow) or the reverse (i.e., expiration reflex or vomiting). These vital mechanisms have not been evaluated in clinical conditions but could be impaired in many neurodegenerative diseases, leading to aspiration pneumonia. These newly described airway protective mechanisms need further study, especially in healthy and pathologic human populations.

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Conflict of interest

Dr Pitts has received grant monies from the National Institutes of Health and the University of Florida's Opportunity Fund. She also makes public statements at scientific conferences nationally and international on the subject of this manuscript.

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  1. Department of Physiological Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, PO Box 100144, Gainesville, FL, 32610-0144, USA

    Teresa Pitts

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  1. Teresa Pitts
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Correspondence to Teresa Pitts.

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Pitts, T. Airway Protective Mechanisms. Lung 192, 27–31 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-013-9540-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-013-9540-y

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