Manubriosternal joint

Dr Mohamed Saber and Dr James Ling et al.

The manubriosternal joint, sometimes referred to as the sternomanubrial joint, is the articulation between the upper two parts of the sternum, the manubrium and sternal body. It is at the level of the sternal angle or angle of Louis, which is at the 2nd costal cartilage and the intervertebral disc of T4 and T5 ¹. This forms an important palpable landmark for clinical examination

Gross anatomy

The manubriosternal joint is a type of secondary cartilaginous joint or symphysis, formed by the inferior border of the manubrium and the superior border of the sternal body. Both sides of the joint are irregular and undulating and covered with hyaline cartilage ². However, it is not a typical secondary cartilaginous joint as the bones may ossify later in adult life ³. The joint does not have a capsule or attached by any ligaments.

Function

There is very little movement of the manubriosternal joint but there may be a small amount of angular movement during respiration ⁴.

References

Anatomy: Thoracic

Anatomy: Thoracic

thoracic skeleton
- thoracic cage
  - ribs
    - typical ribs
    - atypical ribs
    - variant anatomy
  - costal cartilage
  - sternum
- thoracic spine
- articulations
muscles of the thorax
spaces of the thorax
thoracic viscera
- tracheobronchial tree
  - trachea
- lungs
- heart
  - cardiac chambers
  - heart valves
  - pectinate muscles
  - cardiac fibrous skeleton
    - aortic annulus
  - coronary arteries
    - coronary arterial dominance
    - myocardial segments
    - left main coronary artery (LMCA)
      - ramus intermedius artery (RI)
      - circumflex artery (LCx)
        
        obtuse marginal branches (OM1, OM2, etc))
        
        Kugel's artery
      - left anterior descending artery (LAD)
        
        diagonal branches (D1, D2, etc)
        
        septal perforators (S1, S2, etc)
    - right coronary artery (RCA)
      - conus artery
      - sinoatrial nodal artery
      - acute marginal branches (AM1, AM2, etc)
      - inferior interventricular artery (PDA)
      - posterior left ventricular artery (PLV)
    - congenital anomalies
  - innervation of the heart
  - fetal circulation
    - foramen ovale
    - fossa ovale
  - pericardium
    - pericardial space
    - oblique pericardial sinus
    - transverse pericardial sinus
    - pericardial recesses
      - aortic recesses
        
        superior aortic recess
        
        inferior aortic recess
      - pulmonic recesses
        
        right pulmonic recess
        
        left pulmonic recess
      - postcaval recess
      - pulmonary venous recesses
        
        right pulmonary venous recess
        
        left pulmonary venous recess
    - pericardial ligaments
    - epicardial fat pad
- esophagus
  - Zenker diverticulum
  - Killian-Jamieson diverticulum
- thymus
  - retrocaval thymus
- breast
  - nipple-areola complex
  - terminal ductal lobular unit
  - axillary tail
    - foramen of Langer
  - mammary fat
  - Montgomery glands
    - Montgomery tubercles
  - Cooper ligaments
    - crests of Duret
  - retromammary space (Chassaignac bursa)
  - lymphatic drainage
    - Sappey plexus
    - intramammary lymph nodes
  - variants
    - supranumerary nipple (polythelia)
    - accessory breast tissue (polymastia)
    - breast hypoplasia
    - amastia
    - amazia
blood supply of the thorax
- arteries
  - thoracic aorta (development)
  - pulmonary trunk
    - left pulmonary artery
      - aberrant left pulmonary artery
    - right pulmonary artery
- veins
  - superior vena cava (SVC)
    - superior cavoatrial junction
    - variant anatomy
  - inferior vena cava (IVC)
    - inferior cavoatrial junction
  - coronary veins
    - cardiac veins which drain into the coronary sinus
      - great cardiac vein
      - middle cardiac vein
      - small cardiac vein
      - posterior vein of the left ventricle
      - vein of Marshall (oblique vein of the left atrium)
    - anterior cardiac veins
    - venae cordis minimae (smallest cardiac veins or thebesian veins)
  - pulmonary veins
    - bronchial veins
  - thoracoepigastric vein
lymphatics
innervation of the thorax

Article information

rID: 50776

System: Musculoskeletal, Chest

Section: Anatomy

Tag: cases, cases

Synonyms or Alternate Spellings:

Sternomanubrial joint

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Cases and figures

Figure 1: Manubrium: Gray's anatomy diagramFigure 1: Manubrium: Gray's anatomy diagram

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Manubriosternal arthropathyManubriosternal arthropathy

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