Lung Segment Anatomy

As long as the surgeons efforts were confined to resection of a lobe or of a whole lung the importance of segmental anatomy was not fully appreciated. But when churchill in 1939 successfully removed a segment of the lower lobe for bronchiectasis a new emphasis was created.

Tracheobronchial Branching Abnormalities Lobe Based

Gross anatomy of the lungs.

Lung segment anatomy. They are 10 bronchopulmonary segments in the left lung and 8 10 in the left lung. Each bronchioles divides into 50 to 80 terminal bronchioles the final branches of respiratory bronchioles. The diaphragm is the flat dome shaped muscle located at the base of the lungs and thoracic cavity.

With this basic symmetric anatomy shared between the lungs there are a few differences that can be described. The lungs are pyramid shaped paired organs that are connected to the trachea by the right and left bronchi. For it now appeared possible to remove surgically.

The middle lobe on the right has 2 segments. Each segment is supplied by its own bronchus which is called a segmental bronchus. During development there are initially ten segments per lung but since the left lung only has two lobes two pairs of bronchopulmonary segments fuse to give eight total segments with four for each lobe.

The lingula on the left is part of the left upper lobe and is the equivalent. On the inferior surface the lungs are bordered by the diaphragm. A layer of connective tissue separates each segment from the next.

The bronchi further divides finally giving rise to the bronchioles which are less than 1mm in diameter. Medial and lateral easy to remember m iddle l obe. Segmental anatomy each lung is divided into lobes and each lobe is divided into segments.

The right lung retains all 10 segments.

Lung Cancer Radiology Key