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The mediastinum (from Medieval Latin: mediastinus, lit. 'midway'; [2] pl.: mediastina) is the central compartment of the thoracic cavity.Surrounded by loose connective tissue, it is a region that contains vital organs and structures within the thorax, namely the heart and its vessels, the esophagus, the trachea, the vagus, phrenic and cardiac nerves, the thoracic duct, the thymus and the lymph ...
The bony skeletal part of the thoracic wall is the rib cage, and the rest is made up of muscle, skin, and fasciae.. The chest wall has 10 layers, namely (from superficial to deep) skin (epidermis and dermis), superficial fascia, deep fascia and the invested extrinsic muscles (from the upper limbs), intrinsic muscles associated with the ribs (three layers of intercostal muscles), endothoracic ...
The pleurae (sg.: pleura) [1] are the two flattened closed sacs filled with pleural fluid, each ensheathing each lung and lining their surrounding tissues, locally appearing as two opposing layers of serous membrane separating the lungs from the mediastinum, the inside surfaces of the surrounding chest walls and the diaphragm.
The mediastinum comprises those organs which lie in the centre of the chest between the lungs. The cavity also contains two openings one at the top, the superior thoracic aperture also called the thoracic inlet, and a lower inferior thoracic aperture which is much larger than the inlet.
In humans, the left and right lungs are completely separated by the mediastinum, and there is no communication between their pleural cavities.Therefore, in cases of a unilateral pneumothorax, the contralateral lung will remain functioning normally unless there is a tension pneumothorax, which may shift the mediastinum and the trachea, kink the great vessels, and eventually collapse the ...
The azygos vein transports deoxygenated blood from the posterior walls of the thorax and abdomen into the superior vena cava.. It is formed by the union of the ascending lumbar veins with the right subcostal veins at the level of the 12th thoracic vertebra, ascending to the right of the descending aorta and thoracic duct, passing behind the right crus of diaphragm, anterior to the vertebral ...
There are two methods for dividing the abdominopelvic cavity. The clinical method, used by physicians and nurses, utilizes four sections called quadrants. They are the right upper quadrant, the left upper quadrant, the right lower quadrant, and the left lower quadrant. The directional terms refer to the model's right and left, not the viewer's.
The portion of the pleura seen as the outer layer covers the chest wall, the diaphragm and the mediastinum and is often also misleadingly called the parietal pleura. A correct anatomical nomenclature refrains from using the ambiguous terms visceral and parietal in favour of a 4-portion system based on the structures the pleura covers: pulmonary ...