Anatomy of the Respiratory Tract

Question 1

Which ribs are ‘true’?

Answer 1

1-7

Question 2

Which ribs are ‘false’

Answer 2

8-12

Question 3

Which ribs are ‘floating’?

Answer 3

11 and 12

Question 4

What is the jugular notch?

Answer 4

The very top of the manubrium

Question 5

What is the manubrium?

Answer 5

The first portion of the sternum (tie knot aspect)

Question 6

What is the Angle of Louis?

Answer 6

The site of connection between the manubrium and the body of the sternum

Question 7

What is the Xiphoid process?

Answer 7

The post inferior portion of the sternum

Question 8

What is the outermost muscle in the intercostal space?

Answer 8

External intercostal muscle (into front pockets)

Question 9

Which intercostal muscle houses the neurovascular bundle?

Answer 9

Internal intercostal muscle (aims into the back pockets)

Question 10

How are the scalene muscles of the neck involved in inspiration?

Answer 10

Responsible for manipulating the front-to-back diameter of the thorax in deep inspiration

Question 11

What structures are used to facilitate quiet inspiration?

Answer 11

Uses the diaphragm, external intercostals and the interchondral part of the internal intercostals

Question 12

What structures are used to facilitate deep inspiration?

Answer 12

Accessory muscles of breathing are also used, which includes the scalene muscle, the sternocleidomastoids and the pectoralis minor.

Question 13

What structures are used to facilitate quiet expiration?

Answer 13

None, it’s passive, involves the recoil of the respiratory (inspiratory) muscles

Question 14

What structures are used to facilitate deep expiration?

Answer 14

Interosseous part of the internal intercostal muscle will contract, along with the abdominal muscles (accessory muscles)

Question 15

Why may someone bend over and put their hands on their knees if they are struggling to breathe?

Answer 15

Allows the accessory muscles to have a greater control of breathing and therefore can increase the oxygen uptake

Question 16

What is the parasympathetic supply to the lungs (viscera)?

Answer 16

Vagus nerve is parasympathetic supply to the lungs; plexus of nerves flows along the pulmonary tree, and has motor neurons which act as bronchoconstrictors, as well as secretomotors which go to glands.

Question 17

What is the sympathetic supply to the lungs (viscera)?

Answer 17

Sympathetic trunk supplies the lungs; paravertebral sympathetic ganglia have an effect as bronchodilators and inhibiting alveolar glands.

Question 18

When would an individual first experience pain in a lung disease?

Answer 18

When the diseases crosses the parietal pleura as there is where somatic innervation is present and therefore it would be referred to dermatomes supplied by the same spinal nerve. Presentation only occurs here because there is only autonomic innervation to the lungs themselves.

Question 19

Where does the oblique fissure of the lungs start?

Answer 19

In the midclavicular line of the 6th rib

Question 20

Where does the horizontal fissure of the right lung start?

Answer 20

Just under the 4th rib posteriorly and this is where the shoulder blades are

Question 21

What is the vast majority of the posterior of the lungs?

Answer 21

The inferior lobe

Question 22

What is present in the lung hilum?

Answer 22

Pulmonary arteries, pulmonary veins, primary bronchi, lymph nodes (to allow drainage from the lungs)

Question 23

How does the passage of the vagus and phrenic nerve relative the lungs differ?

Answer 23

The vagus nerve travels posteriorly to the lung whereas the phrenic nerve travels anterior to the lung

Question 24

Trace the flow of air from the nose to the alveoli

Answer 24

There is the trachea, which then branches off into the bronchi (intermediate bronchus), and then into the superior, inferior and middle lobar bronchi on the right side (the more vertical side, mainly affected in choking), and into the superior and inferior lobar bronchus on the left side.

Question 25

What is a bronchopulmonary segment?

Answer 25

It is simple a subdivision of a lung lobe which is surrounded by connective tissue. They have their own segmental/tertiary bronchus and are supplied by arteries, lymph vessels and autonomic nerves. Therefore, one of these segments can be removed in isolation rather than an entire lung.

Question 26

Trace the flow of blood through the pulmonary circuit

Answer 26

Bronchial arteries branch from the descending aorta, (systemic circulation) –> then bronchial arteries enter the lungs at the hilum –> supply all of the tissues except for the alveoli. Pulmonary circulation also exists, and the pulmonary arteries lie anterior to the bronchi.