Respiratory System Flashcards
Where are nerves and vessels found on ribs?
Along the inferior border of each rib in a costal groove
How are the intercostal space named?
In accordance with the above rib
How is the respiratory tract categorised?
Nasal cavity->bronchioles = conducting portion
Respiratory bronchioles->alveoli = respiratory portion
What is it called when you get the following in the space between the serosa membranes?
A)air
B)blood
C)pus
D)watery transudate (fluid from capillaries)/exudate (water from cells)
A)pneumathorax
B)haemothorax
C)empynema
D)pleural effusion
Cancer in the apex of the lung can cause what when it impinges on the brachial plexus?
Wasting of the lower arm muscles
Cancer of the lung can cause what if it impinges on the left recurrent laryngeal nerve?
A hoarse voice
What is the function of the larynx?
Contributes to resonance of voice
Stop foreign objects getting into the lungs
Close to build up pressure when coughing
What types of epithelia do you find in the respiratory tract?
Pseudostratified - nasal cavity->secondary bronchi
Simple columnar - bronchioles and terminal bronchioles
Simple cuboidal - respiratory bronchioles and alveolar ducts
Simple squamous - alveoli
What are points at the bottom of chest cavity that the lungs don’t penetrate?
The gutter margins
Cancer of the lung can cause what when it impinges on the left or right phrenic nerve?
Paralysis of 1 side of the diaphragm
What other cells and features would you find in the respiratory tract? (Those lying within the epithelia)
Cilia and goblet cells - Nasal cavity->secondary bronchi
Cilia and clara cells - bronchioles and terminal bronchioles
Few cilia and clara cells - respiratory bronchioles and alveolar ducts
Type 2 - alveoli
What cells are found in the non olfactory region of the nasal cavity?
Pseudostratified columnar epithelial cells with non motile cilia, no goblet cells.
How do the secondary and tertiary bronchi differ in structure to the primary bronchi?
Instead of complete regular circles of cartilage and muscle (in the primary bronchi), there are irregular crescent plates and islands of cartilage
What 3 things can a Pancoast tumour cause?
Wasting of the thenar and hypothecate eminance
Clawing
Horner’s syndrome (localised sweating, droopy eyelid, constricted pupil)
If the cilia in the olfactory region of the nasal cavity don’t/can’t move, why are they still there?
They increase surface area and therefore increase odour detection
What is causes horner’s syndrome?
Pressure on the sympathetic trunk
What cells are found in the olfactory region of the nasal cavity?
Pseudostratified columnar epithelium with non motile cilia, no goblet cells
What is a pancoast tumour?
A tumour in the apex of the lungs
What is the difference in structure between the trachea and the primary bronchi?
Trachea has C shaped hyaline cartilage rings, primary bronchi has cartilage and muscle completely encircling the lumen
Why are foreign objects more likely to get lodges in the right bronchus?
Because the path of it is more vertical
How do the bronchioles differ from the bronchi?
Bronchioles have no cartilage or glands
What do the secretions from epithelium and submucosal glands contain?
Water, (serum) proteins, lysozyme, mucins
What can a pancoast tumour impinge upon?
The brachial plexus
What is the name of the artery that actually provide nutrients to the tissues of the lungs?
The bronchial artery
What immune cells can be found in alveoli?
Macrophages
What does the olfactory region of the nasal cavity do?
Detects odours
What are clara cells?
Cells that secrete surfactant lipoproteins (which stop walls sticking together during expiration) and clara cell protein (CC16 - can be measured in serum and is indicative of leak across blood brain barrier)
At what point in the respiratory tract do you get begin to get openings onto alveoli?
Respiratory bronchioles
What are the walls of alveoli supported by?
Elastic fibre and reticular fibre
Where are glands found in the respiratory tract?
In the submucosa
What is the most abundant cell type in an alveoli wall?
Type 1 pneumocytes- squamous- permit gas exchange
What is the cell that covers about 10% of an alveoli’s wall?
Type 2 pneumocytes- cuboidal- produce surfactant
In what size alveoli do surfactants reduce the surface tension the most?
Small (as these have higher pressures)
What is pneumonia?
Bacterial infection of the lungs, causing the alveoli to fill with immune cells
What does surfactant do? And what cells produce it in the alveoli?
Reduces surface tension (which is necessary otherwise inspiration would be hard because molecules of water around the alveoli want to come together), produced by type 2 pneumocytes
What can an alveoli open into?
Respiratory ducts, alveolar ducts, alveolar sacs and other alveoli (via pores)
What does the pleural fluid do?
Reduces friction
Provides surface tension which prevents lungs form recoiling and collapsing
