superior mediastinum
Superior mediastinum is an artificially divided wedge-shaped compartment of the mediastinum located between the thoracic plane inferiorly and the thoracic inlet superiorly. The inferior mediastinum, comprising of the anterior, middle and posterior parts, lies inferiorly.
Gross anatomy
Boundaries
- superiorly: thoracic inlet
- inferiorly: thoracic plane
- laterally: mediastinal pleura
- anteriorly: manubrium of the sternum
- posteriorly: bodies of upper four thoracic vertebrae
Contents
- muscles: origin of sternohyoid, sternothyroid and lower end of longus colli muscles
- arteries: aortic arch and great vessels
- veins: right and left brachiocephalic veins, left superior intercostal vein, upper half of superior vena cava
- nerves: phrenic, vagus and cardiac nerves; cardiac plexus; left recurrent laryngeal nerve
- lymph nodes: brachiocephalic; tracheobronchial; paratracheal
- trachea
- esophagus
- thoracic duct
- thymus
Siehe auch:
und weiter:
Assoziationen und Differentialdiagnosen zu oberes Mediastinum:
