Pulmonary Gross Anatomy Flashcards
What are the anatomical borders of the pleural cavities?
Slightly above Rib 1, slightly below the costal margin
What are the two continuous pleura of the lung called and where are they located?
The parietal pleura, which lines the inner thoracic wall and the visceral pleura, which lines the lung.
What are the two recesses called in the thoracic cavity?
Costomediastinal recess and costodiaphragmatic recess.
How many lobes do the right and left lung have and how many fissures?
Like the cardiac valves, there are 2 lobes of the left lung and 3 lobes of the right lung. The left lung only has the oblique fissure, whereas the right lung has both the oblique and horizontal fissures.
What are the different lobes of the right and left lung called?
Left lung is just superior and inferior lobe, with a tongue like structure called “lingula” in the inferior lobe. Right lung is superior, middle and inferior.
Along what ribs do the oblique and horizontal fissures run on the right lobe?
Oblique runs along 6th rib, horizontal along 4th rib.
What are the 6 components of the hilum (per 1 lung)?
1 pulmonary artery. 2 pulmonary veins, Lymphatics, nerves, main bronchus and bronchial vessels.
Grossly, where will the pulmonary arteries be located?
RALS, Right lung it will be anterior to the bronchus, Left lung it will be superior.
Why do we see 2 bronchus on the right and 1 bronchus on the left?
The branching of the bronchus occurs pre-hilur on the right, at the hilum on the left.
What is the point of bifurcation from the main bronchus called and around what level does this bifurcation occur?
The point of bifurcation is called the “carina” and it occurs at the level of T4-5.
Is the carina at the exact midpoint? What is the significance of this?
It’s slightly off center pointing towards the left, which allows for things that are aspirated to go into the right bronchus first. Further, the right bronchus is more vertical and more wide in comparison to the left, so objects that are aspirated have an easier time still getting into the right mainstem bronchus.
What are “Bronchopulmonary segments” or “pulmonary segment” and how many do we have per lung? Why is this important?
They are functionally independent sections of the lung and we have ~10 per lung. Because it is independent it is possible to for example resect a section of the lung without destroying the entire lung.
What are the components of the bronchopulmonary segment (3 components). What do these components supply?
Segmental bronchus, tertiary pulmonary artery branch, and bronchial artery. All 3 components supply only one bronchopulmonary segment.
Is the pulmonary vein intra or intersegmental and why does this matter?
The bronchopulmonary segment is intrasegmental but the pulmonary vein is intersegmental, this is important because the pulmonary vein will drain more than one segment.
What are the components of the “conducting respiratory airway” and what is its function?
Trachea, R/L main bronchus (primary bronchus), Lobar (secondary) bronchus, segmental (tertiary) bronchus, terminal bronchioles. Their purpose is to simply conduct air, there is NO GAS EXCHANGE.
