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Information about Pleurae

“Pleura” redirects here. For other uses, see pleuron.
Front view of thorax, showing the relations of the pleuræ and lungs to the chest wall. Pleura in blue; lungs in purple.
A transverse section of the thorax, showing the contents of the middle and the posterior mediastinum. The pleural and pericardial cavities are exaggerated since normally there is no space between parietal and visceral pleura and between pericardium and heart.
Latincavitas pleuralis
subject #238 1088
Precursorintraembryonic coelom
MeSH Pleural+Cavity
Dorlands/Elsevier c_16/12220581
The lungs are surrounded by two membranes, the pleurae. The outer pleura is attached to the chest wall and is known as the parietal pleura; the inner one is attached to the lung and other visceral tissues and is known as the visceral pleura. In between the two is an actual thin space known as the pleural cavity or pleural space.

The parietal pleura is highly sensitive to pain; the visceral pleura is not.

Functions

Pleural fluid serves several functions. It lubricates the pleural surfaces and allows the pleural layers to slide against each other easily during respiration. Pleural fluid also provides the surface tension that keeps the lung surface in close apposition with the chest wall. This allows optimal inflation of alveoli during respiration. It also directly transmits pressures from the chest wall to the visceral pleural surface (and hence, the lung). Therefore, movements of the chest wall during breathing are coupled closely to movements of the lungs.

Blood supply

The visceral pleura has a dual blood supply from the bronchial and pulmonary arteries.

Fluid

It is filled with pleural fluid, a serous fluid produced by the pleura. A normal 70 kg human has approximately 12-15 mL of pleural fluid.

In normal pleurae, most fluid is produced by the parietal circulation (intercostal arteries) via bulk flow and reabsorbed by the lymphatic system. Thus, pleural fluid is continuously produced and reabsorbed. The rate of reabsorption may increase up to 40x before significant amounts of fluid accumulate within the pleural space.

In humans, there is no anatomical connection between the left and right pleural cavities, so in cases of pneumothorax (see below), the other hemithorax will still be able to function normally.

Diseases

Diseases involving the pleura include:
  • Pneumothorax: a collection of air within the pleural cavity, arising either from the outside or from the lung. Pneumothoraces may be traumatic, iatrogenic, or spontaneous. A tension pneumothorax is a particular type of pneumothorax where the air may enter (though a defect of the chest wall, lung, or airways) on inspiration, but cannot exit on expiration. Each breath increases the amount of trapped air in the chest cavity, leading to further lung compression. This is a medical emergency.
  • Pleural effusion: a fluid accumulation within the pleural space. Abnormal collections of pleural fluid may be due to excessive fluid volume (i.e. excess intravenous fluids, renal failure), decreased fluid protein (e.g. cirrhosis, proteinuria), heart failure, bleeding (hemothorax), infections (parapneumonic effusions, empyema), inflammation, malignancies, or perforation of thoracic organs (i.e. chylothorax, esophageal rupture).
  • Pleural tumors: abnormal growths on the pleurae. These may be benign (i.e. pleural plaques) or malignant in nature. Mesothelioma is a type of malignant cancer associated with asbestos exposure.

See Also

Additional images


The position and relation of the esophagus in the cervical region and in the posterior mediastinum. Seen from behind.


External links

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Anatomy of torso, respiratory system: Lungs and related structures
lungs
conducting zone
respiratory zone
pleurae
Pleuron may refer to:
  • Birthplace of Alexander Aetolus
  • A son of Aetolus in Greek mythology
In zoological morphology, pleuron may also refer to :
  • Tergum of a crustacean when it overhangs the insertion of the limb on each side as a free plate

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thorax is a division of an animal's body that lies between the head and the abdomen.

In mammals, the thorax is the region of the body formed by the sternum, the thoracic vertebrae and the ribs. It extends from the neck to the diaphragm, not including the upper limbs.
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pleurae. The outer pleura is attached to the chest wall and is known as the parietal pleura; the inner one is attached to the lung and other visceral tissues and is known as the visceral pleura.
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lungs flank the heart and great vessels in the chest cavity.[1]]]

The lung is the essential respiration organ in air-breathing vertebrates, the most primitive being the lungfish.
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thorax is a division of an animal's body that lies between the head and the abdomen.

In mammals, the thorax is the region of the body formed by the sternum, the thoracic vertebrae and the ribs. It extends from the neck to the diaphragm, not including the upper limbs.
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The mediastinum is a non-delineated group of structures in the thorax (chest), surrounded by loose connective tissue. It is the central compartment of the thoracic cavity.
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The pericardial cavity is a potential space between the parietal pericardium and visceral layer. It contains a supply of serous fluid. The serous fluid that is found in this space is known as the pericardial fluid.
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The pericardium is a double-walled sac that contains the heart and the roots of the great vessels.

Layers

There are two layers to this sac: the fibrous pericardium and the serous pericardium.
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heart is a muscular organ responsible for pumping blood through the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions, or a similar structure in the annelids, mollusks, and arthropods.
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Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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Embryology is the study of the development of an embryo. An embryo is defined as any vertebrate in a stage before birth or hatching. Embryology refers to the development of the egg cell (zygote) after fertilization and the differentiation of cells into tissues and organs.
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The intraembryonic coelom (or somatic coelom) is a a portion of the conceptus forming in the mesoderm.

It briefly has a connection with the extraembryonic coelom.

External links

  • http://www.embryology.ch/anglais/hdisqueembry/triderm09.

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Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a huge controlled vocabulary (or metadata system) for the purpose of indexing journal articles and books in the life sciences. Created and updated by the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), it is used by the MEDLINE/PubMed
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Elsevier, the world's largest publisher of medical and scientific literature, forms part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has substantial operations in the UK, USA and elsewhere.
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lungs flank the heart and great vessels in the chest cavity.[1]]]

The lung is the essential respiration organ in air-breathing vertebrates, the most primitive being the lungfish.
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In anatomy, a serous membrane, or serosa, is a smooth membrane consisting of a thin layer of cells which excrete a fluid, known as serous fluid. Serous membranes line and enclose several body cavities, known as serous cavities, where they secrete a lubricating fluid which
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The thoracic cavity (or chest cavity) is the chamber of the human body (and other animal bodies) that is protected by the thoracic wall (thoracic cage and associated skin, muscle, and fascia).
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parietal pleura.

The parietal pleura is attached to the wall of the thoracic cavity and innervated by the intercostal nerves

See also

  • Visceral pleura

External links

  • -1288372165 at GPnotebook
  • Norman/Georgetown

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viscus (IPA: /ˈvɪskəs/) (plural: viscera /ˈvɪsərə/
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pulmonary pleura (or visceral pleura).

The visceral pleura is attached directly to the lungs.

External links

  • 74121277 at GPnotebook
  • Norman/Georgetown thoraxlesson2
  • Atlas of anatomy at UMich lung_lymph

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alveolus (plural: alveoli, from Latin alveus, "little cavity"), is an anatomical structure that has the form of a hollow cavity. Mainly found in the lung, the pulmonary alveoli
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Blood is a specialized biological fluid consisting of red blood cells (also called RBCs or erythrocytes), white blood cells (also called leukocytes) and platelets (also called thrombocytes) suspended in a complex fluid medium known as blood plasma.
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In human anatomy, the bronchial arteries help supply the lungs with oxygenated blood. Although there is much variation, there are usually two bronchial arteries that run to the left lung, and one to the right lung.
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The pulmonary arteries carry blood from the heart to the lungs. They are the only arteries (other than umbilical arteries in the fetus) that carry deoxygenated blood.

In the human heart, the pulmonary trunk (pulmonary artery or main pulmonary artery
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In physiology, the term serous fluid is used for various bodily fluids that are typically pale yellow and transparent, and of a benign nature.

Saliva consists of mucus and serous fluid; the serous fluid contains the enzyme amylase important for the digestion of carbohydrates.
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The intercostal arteries are a group of arteries which supply the area between the ribs ("costae"), called the intercostal space.
  • Highest intercostal artery - first and second intercostal spaces

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bulk movement or bulk flow or pressure flow is the movement of liquid in response to a pressure gradient. Bulk flow is independent of solute concentration, unlike osmotic water movement.
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The lymphatic system is a complex network of lymphoid organs, lymph nodes, lymph ducts, lymphatic tissues, lymph capillaries and lymph vessels that produce and transport lymph fluid from tissues to the circulatory system.
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Pneumothorax
Classification & external resources

Chest X-ray of Left-sided Tension Pneumothorax
ICD-10 J 93. , S 27.0
ICD-9 512 , 860

DiseasesDB 10195
MedlinePlus 000087
eMedicine emerg/469  
MeSH D011030
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Iatrogenesis literally means "brought forth by a healer" (iatros means healer in Greek); as such, it can refer to good or bad effects, but it is almost exclusively used to refer to a state of ill health or adverse effect or complication caused by or resulting from medical
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