論説

Congenital malformations of the larynx, which is crucial for breathing and swallowing, are rare. To enable a better understanding of congenital laryngeal malformations, the prenatal development of the trachea and larynx is summarized, based on the classification described by Henick. It is followed by a review of the molecular-biological findings in recent studies focused on the development of trachea and larynx. The molecular mechanism of laryngeal development has not been well documented and needs to be elucidated by future research using conditional knockout mouse lines specific to the larynx.