Respiratory Tract Flashcards
What is internal/cellular respiration?
The use of oxygen in the metabolism of organic molecules
What is external respiration?
The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between an organism and the external environment
What are 6 general functions of the respiratory system?
- Provide oxygen
- Eliminate CO2
- Form speech (phonation)
- Defend against microbes (host defense)
- Trap and dissolve blood clots arising from the systemic veins
- Modulate concentration of biologically active molecules
What is the principle muscle in the resp. system?
The diaphragm
What kind of epithelium makes up the respiratory epithelium? What does it rest on?
pseudostratified cilliated columnar epithelium resting on a thick basement membrane
What are the most abundant cells in the respiratory epithelium?
Cilliated columnar cells
What are most of the cells at the basement membrane making up 30% of the epithelium?
stem cells
what 3 other cell types (besides stem and CCC) are present in the resp. epithelium?
- mucous secreting goblet cells
- Intraepithelial lymphocytes
- Dendritic cells
What section makes up the upper airways? What is the function?
Nose to vocal cords
Humidify and warm inspired air
What happens to air as it passes through the nose? what structures exist in there to increase surface area?
Filtration and trapping of large particles
Nasal turbinates are 3 ridge like structures that project into the nasal passages
Where are neural endings associated with smell located in the nose? where do they go?
roof of the nose above the superior turbinate carry impulses through the cribriform plate to the
olfactory bulb.
what is the resistance to airflow like in the nose?
relatively high
What 3 cell types make up the olfactory epithelium?
- Basal cells
- Supporting cells
- Olfactory neurons
What kind of epithelium is olfactory epithelium?
pseudostratified
Paranasal sinuses are…?
4 air filled spaces surrounding the nasal cavity
What are the 4 paranasal sinuses? where are they?
- Frontal sinuses - above eyes
- Maxillary sinuses - below the eyes
- Ethmoidal sinuses - between the eyes
- Sphenoidal sinuses - behind the eyes
What are 2 functions of sinuses?
- lighten the skull
2. provide resonance to the voice
What type of cells line the sinuses?
cilliated epithelium
What is sinusitis?
Retention of secretions - in the maxillary sinus especially - that results in infection
What are the 3 major structures of the larynx?
- Epiglottis
- Arytenoids
- Vocal cords
What are the arytenoids?
pair of small 3 sided cartilage structures to which the vocal chords are attached
What do the epiglottis and arytenoids do during swallowing?
Cover the vocal chords and prevent the passage of food/drink into the lower resp. tract
the larynx is a short air passage between which two structures of the upper airway?
pharynx and the trachea
What makes the walls of the larynx rigid?
irregularily shaped cartilages
- hyaline and elastic
What holds the larynx together? what moves it?
held together by ligaments and moved by skeletal muscles
What guards the upper opening of the larynx?
the epiglottis
What effect do intrinsic vs extrinsic muscles have on the larynx?
Extrinsic muscles change larynx position in swallowing
Intrinsic muscles alter relative position (& tension) of vocal cords in production of sound (phonation)
How many lobes does each lung have? what separates them
right: 3
- oblique and horizontal fissures
left : 2
- just oblique fissure
Each lobe of the lung is further divided into..
segments
What covers both lungs?
thin membrane visceral pleura
What is the division of the lower airways starting at the trachea
- Trachea splits into two mainstem bronchi
- Mainstem bronchi divide into lobar bronchi
- Lobar bronchi divide into segmental bronchi
- Segmental bronchi to bronchioles
- Bronchioles terminate in alveoli
What are the 4 functions of the conducting zone airways? how do you differentiate between the conducting and the respiratory zone.
- pathway for airflow
- defend against microbes, toxic chemicals, other foreign materials
- mucocillary clearance - Warm and moisten air
- Phonation
know you have passed between the zones because of the outcroppings of alveoli
the trachea is lined with…
typical respiratory epithelium
What lies underneath the respiratory epithelium of the trachea? underneath that?
connective tissue of the lamina propria
seromucous glands in the lamina propria and submucosa
What else is found in the submucosa of the trachea besides seromucous glands?
hyaline cartilage rings
What do the seromucous glands and goblet cells produce? what does this accomplish?
layer of mucous that permits the propulsion of foreign material out of the respiratory system by cilliary movement