The narrowest segment of a 14-day-old child’s upper airway is located at the
ExplanationD. According to classical teaching, the narrowest portion of a child’s upper airway is at the level of the cricoid cartilage, whereas the narrowest portion of an adult’s upper airway is at the level of the vocal cords. However, a more recent bronchoscopic study of airway dimensions in children found that between the ages of 6 months and 13 years, the glottis, not the cricoid cartilage, is the narrowest portion of the child’s airway. This study did not measure airway dimensions in children younger than 6 months.
