Mediastinum: Baiscs

Question 1

What is the mediastinum?

Answer 1

The space between the plerual cavities which houses the heart and all other structures of the chest except for the lungs

Question 2

What will separate the mediastinum into superior and inferior halves?

Answer 2

An imaginary line drawn from the sternal angle to the T4/T5 intervertebral disc

Question 3

What does the sternal angle indicate the level of?

Answer 3

1) Boundry between superior and inferior mediastinum
2) Articulation of the 2nd rib
3) Aortic Arch
4) Bification of the trachea into right and left main bronchi
5) Upper border of the pulmonary trunk