Pharynx: Zenker diverticulum: practice question

The best answer is D, Between the thyropharyngeus and cricopharyngeus parts of the inferior constrictor. A pharyngeal pouch (Zenker diverticulum) herniates through the area of weakness between the oblique thyropharyngeus fibres and the horizontal cricopharyngeus fibres, called Killian dehiscence.

The gap between the middle and inferior constrictors transmits the internal laryngeal nerve and superior laryngeal vessels, and the recurrent laryngeal nerve enters below the inferior constrictor; it is not the site of the pouch.

The thyrohyoid membrane is pierced by the internal laryngeal nerve and superior laryngeal vessels, and it does not form a pharyngeal pouch.

The gap between the superior and middle constrictors transmits stylopharyngeus and the glossopharyngeal nerve.

It tests Pharynx: Zenker diverticulum in Anatomy. High pressure from an incompletely relaxing cricopharyngeus is thought to drive the herniation. The pouch passes down behind the oesophagus and can compress it.

We tag it as an application question: it asks you to use a fact on a patient or a finding. The tag is our own editorial judgement, not an official difficulty rating, so read the reason for every option, not only the answer.

Learn every nerve by its route, its muscles and what a lesion looks like at the bedside. That one habit answers a large share of questions. Then use the flashcards and the other Anatomy questions on this site to test what stuck.

No. It is an original practice item (editorial status: sample, version 1). NextPrep does not publish recalled or leaked questions, and independent faculty review of this item has not been completed yet, so confirm important facts in a standard textbook.