Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
pages 1270
| third of the thyroid cartilage; the base looks downward, and is on a level with the fifth or sixth tracheal ring. Each lobe is about 5 cm. long; its greatest width is about 3 cm., and its thickness about 2 cm. The lateral or superficial surface is convex, and covered by the skin, the superficial and deep fasciæ, the Sternocleidomastoideus, the superior belly of the Omohyoideus, the Sternohyoideus and Sternothyreoideus, and beneath the last muscle by the pretracheal layer of the deep fascia, which forms a capsule for the gland. The deep or medial surface is moulded over the underlying structures, viz., the thyroid and cricoid cartilages, the trachea, the Constrictor pharyngis inferior and posterior part of the Cricothyreoideus, the esophagus (particularly on the left side of the neck), the superior and inferior thyroid arteries, and the recurrent nerves. The anterior border is thin, and inclines obliquely from above downward toward the middle line of the neck, while the posterior border is thick and overlaps the common carotid artery, and, as a rule, the parathyroids. |
| The isthmus (isthmus gl. thyreoidea) connects together the lower thirds of the lobes; it measures about 1.25 cm. in breadth, and the same in depth, and usually covers the second and third rings of the trachea. Its situation and size present, however, many variations. In the middle line of the neck it is covered by the skin and fascia, and close to the middle line, on either side, by the Sternothyreoideus. Across its upper border runs an anastomotic branch uniting the two superior thyroid arteries; at its lower border are the inferior thyroid veins. Sometimes the isthmus is altogether wanting. |
| A third lobe, of conical shape, called the pyramidal lobe, frequently arises from the upper part of the isthmus, or from the adjacent portion of either lobe, but most commonly the left, and ascends as far as the hyoid bone. It is occasionally quite detached, or may be divided into two or more parts. |
| A fibrous or muscular band is sometimes found attached, above, to the body of the hyoid bone, and below to the isthmus of the gland, or its pyramidal lobe. When muscular, it is termed the Levator glandulæ thyreoideæ. |
| Small detached portions of thyroid tissue are sometimes found in the vicinity of the lateral lobes or above the isthmus; they are called accessory thyroid glands (glandulæ thyreoideæ accessoriæ). |
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FIG. 1175– Scheme showing development of branchial epithelial bodies. (Modified from Koh.) I, II, III, IV. Branchial pouches. (See enlarged image) |
Development.—The thyroid gland is developed from a median diverticulum (Fig. 1175), which appears about the fourth week on the summit of the tuberculum impar, but later is found in the furrow immediately behind the tuberculum (Fig. 979). It grows downward and backward as a tubular duct, which bifurcates and subsequently subdivides into a series of cellular cords, from which the isthmus and lateral lobes of the thyroid gland are developed. The ultimo-branchial bodies from the fifth pharyngeal pouches are enveloped by the lateral lobes of the thyroid gland; they undergo atrophy and do not form true thyroid tissue. The connection of the diverticulum with the pharynx is termed the thyroglossal duct; its continuity is subsequently interrupted, and it undergoes degeneration, its upper end being represented by the foramen cecum of the tongue, and its lower by the pyramidal lobe of the thyroid gland. |