Lecture 3: Lungs, Pleura & Bronchial Tree

Question 1

Where does the trachea start?

Answer 1

Lower border of cricoid cartilage

Question 2

What are the features of the cartilaginous rings in the trachea?

Answer 2

U-shaped, deficient posteriorly

Question 3

What makes up for the deficiency in the cartilaginous rings of the trachea?

Answer 3

Trachealis

Question 4

Where does the trachea bifurcate and what are the divisions?

Answer 4

T4/5

Left and Right main bronchi

Question 5

What are the features of the right main bronchus?

Answer 5

Shorter, wider, more vertical, divides before the hilum of the lung into superior and intermediate (divides into middle and inferior in the lung)

Question 6

What are the features of the left main bronchus?

Answer 6

Divides into superior and inferior branches once past the hilum of the lung

Question 7

How many orders of branching are there in the lower airways?

Answer 7

25

Question 8

When does cartilage stop in the airways and what are the consequences of this?

Answer 8

Transition from bronchi to bronchioles - airways are now collapsable

Question 9

How many bronchopulmonary segments are there per lung and what are their features?

Answer 9

10, pyramidal shaped, apex directed towards hilum, functionally distinct tissues

Question 10

What is asthma?

Answer 10

Spasm of smooth muscle around the lower airways - bronchioles with no cartilage collapse - reduced air supply

Question 11

What are the features of the right lung?

Answer 11

3 lobes (superior, middle, inferior) and 2 fissures (oblique, horizontal)

Question 12

What are the features of the left lung?

Answer 12

Pushed over due to heart position, 2 lobes (superior, inferior), 1 fissure (oblique)

Question 13

What are the positions of pulmonary arteries and veins?

Answer 13

Arteries are superior and posterior, veins and inferior and anterior

Question 14

Can you tell the difference between the major arteries and veins surrounding the heart?

Answer 14

Not really - don’t have major pressure differences so haven’t adapted characteristic features

Question 15

What do the bronchial arteries supply?

Answer 15

Connective tissue in and around airways

Question 16

What is parenchyma?

Answer 16

Non-resp parts of lungs

Question 17

What is the venous drainage of the parenchyma?

Answer 17

Bronchial veins - azygous

Question 18

What is present in the hilum of the lung?

Answer 18

Artery, vein, lobar bronchi (2 right, 1 left), lymph nodes, bronchial arteries

Question 19

Where do the vagus and phrenic nerves run in relation to the lung hilum?

Answer 19

Vagus nerve running posterior to the hilum and phrenic anterior

Question 20

What is the sympathetic nerve supply for the lungs?

Answer 20

Sympathetic chain T1-4

Question 21

What is the parasympathetic nerve supply for the lungs?

Answer 21

Vagus

Question 22

What lymph node drains the lungs?

Answer 22

Deep pulmonary lymph nodes - hilar nodes - bronchomediastinal trunks - thoracic or right ducts

Question 23

What are the black deposits in the lungs?

Answer 23

Carbon and aggregation of macrophages

Question 24

What is the pleura and what is it divided into?

Answer 24

Closed double layered membrane - parietal and visceral

Question 25

What is the pulmonary ligament?

Answer 25

Where the parietal pleura reflects over vessels at hilum and becomes visceral pleura

Question 26

What is the sensory supply to the parietal pleura?

Answer 26

Intercostal and phrenic nerves

Question 27

What is the sensory supply to the visceral pleura?

Answer 27

Sympathetics of organ

Question 28

What happens if the surface tension in the lung is broken?

Answer 28

Lung recoils - pneumothorax or hemothorax