Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The pleural cavity, or pleural space (or sometimes intrapleural space), is the potential space between the pleurae of the pleural sac that surrounds each lung.A small amount of serous pleural fluid is maintained in the pleural cavity to enable lubrication between the membranes, and also to create a pressure gradient.
This is called the pleural cavity (also pleural space). [2] It contains a tiny amount of serous fluid (pleural fluid) secreted by the pleurae, at an average pressure that is below the atmospheric pressure under healthy conditions. The two lungs, each bounded by a two-layered pleural sac, almost fill the thoracic cavity.
The lungs are suspended within the pleural cavity of the thorax. The pleurae are two thin membranes, one cell layer thick, which surround the lungs. The inner (visceral pleura) covers the lungs and the outer (parietal pleura) lines the inner surface of the chest wall. This membrane secretes a small amount of fluid, allowing the lungs to move ...
It did show that malignant cavities are more likely than benign cavities to have an irregular internal wall (49% vs 26%) and have an indentation of the outer wall of the cavity (54% vs 29%). [5] Areas of emphysema are abnormal, air-filled spaces that usually do not have visible walls, [5] and bullae are very thin walled (<1 mm). [2]
In other words, they are like an empty plastic bag that has not been opened (two walls collapsed against each other; no interior volume until opened) or a balloon that has not been inflated. The pleural space , between the visceral and parietal pleura of the lung , is a potential space. [ 1 ]
An easy to understand example is a traumatic pneumothorax, where air enters the pleural space from outside the body, as occurs with puncture to the chest wall. Similarly, scuba divers ascending while holding their breath with their lungs fully inflated can cause air sacs ( alveoli ) to burst and leak high pressure air into the pleural space.
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
Pleural effusions collect in the costodiaphragmatic recess when in standing position, [2] and present on plain X-rays as "blunting" of the costophrenic angle.. A thoracocentesis (pleural tap) is often performed here while a patient is in full expiration because of less risk of puncturing the lungs and thereby causing pneumothorax.