Superior mediastinum
Updates to Article Attributes
Body
was changed:
Superior mediastinum is an artificially divided compartment of the mediastinum located between the thoracic plane inferiorly and the thoracic inlet superiorly. The other mediastinal compartment (anterior, middle and posterior) lie inferiorly.
Gross anatomy
Boundaries
- superiorly: thoracic inlet
- inferiorly: thoracic plane
- laterally: mediastinal pleura
- anteriorly: manubrium of sternum
- posteriorly: bodies of upper four thoracic vertebra
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
- oesophagus
- thoracic duct
- thymus
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