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The thoracic cavity (or chest cavity) is the chamber of the body of vertebrates that is protected by the thoracic wall (rib cage and associated skin, muscle, and fascia). The central compartment of the thoracic cavity is the mediastinum .
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 ...
An X-ray of a human chest area, with some structures labeled. The contents of the thorax include the heart and lungs (and the thymus gland); the major and minor pectoral muscles, trapezius muscles, and neck muscle; and internal structures such as the diaphragm, the esophagus, the trachea, and a part of the sternum known as the xiphoid process.
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 transversus thoracis muscle (/ t r æ n z ˈ v ɜːr s ə s θ ə ˈ r eɪ s ɪ s /), also known as triangularis sterni, lies internal to the thoracic cage, anteriorly.It is usually a thin plane of muscular and tendinous fibers, however on athletic individuals it can be a thick 'slab of meat', situated upon the inner surface of the front wall of the chest.
The diaphragm is the most important muscle of respiration, [3] and separates the thoracic cavity, containing the heart and lungs, from the abdominal cavity: as the diaphragm contracts, the volume of the thoracic cavity increases, creating a negative pressure there, which draws air into the lungs. [4]
The internal thoracic artery (ITA), also known as the internal mammary artery, is an artery that supplies the anterior chest wall and the breasts. [1] It is a paired artery, with one running along each side of the sternum , to continue after its bifurcation as the superior epigastric and musculophrenic arteries .
A cutout of the thoracic wall showing the three layers of intercostal muscle - from the left wall. The muscles extend from the tubercles of the ribs behind, to the cartilages of the ribs in front, where they end in thin membranes, the external intercostal membranes , which are continued forward to the sternum .