Border of the lungs

Limits of the lungs.

The tip of the lung will stand in the area of ​​the supraclavicular fossa 2 - 3 cm above the level of the clavicle, located here inward from the stair muscles.

The front borders of both lungs behind the sternum form an hourglass figure. Their edges are closest in the region of II-IV ribs. Here between the lungs a narrow gap is formed, elongated in the vertical direction, often a few to the left of the median line.

Above II edges of the border of both lungs diverge, forming a wider gap, occupied in children by the thymus gland, and in adults - by its remnants. Below the IV ribs, the border of the lungs also diverge, mainly due to the anterior edge of the left lung (incisura cardiaca). In the area of ​​this gap, the anterior surface of the heart is attached to the anterior chest wall.

Behind, the pulmonary margins are spaced apart from each other by the width of the vertebral bodies. The boundaries of the apices and anterior margin of the lungs coincide with the boundaries of the pleura of these sections.

The lower limit of the right lung is determined by: linea medioclavicularis (mamillaris) - on the 6th rib (lower edge); By linea axillaris media - on the 8th rib; By linea scapularis - on X rib; By linea paravertebralis - at the level of the spinous process of the XI vertebra.

The lower border of the left lung in front, on the level of the IV rib, goes horizontally, and then along linea medioclavicularis descends down to the VI rib, from where the border of the lungs on both sides is approximately the same.

You will be interested to read this:

• Laryngeal cavity
• Trachea and main bronchi
• External structure of the lungs
• Internal structure of the lungs
• Bronchopulmonary segments
• Pleura