THORAX

Thorax or Chest
Osseo-cartilaginous cage
Function: containing & protecting
of the primary organ of respiratory
& circulation
Shape:
Conical broad below & narrow
above
Longer behind
Flatted from before backward
Boundaries
Posterior: 12 thoracic vertebrae &
posterior portion of the ribs
Anterior: sternum & coastal cartilage
Lateral: ribs
Upper: 1
st
TV, margin of the sternum &
ribs
Below: 12
th
TV & ribs, subcostal angle
Reniform: broader from side-side
Sternum
Flat, narrow bone find in the
medial part in the front of the
chest
3 parts:
Manubrium - handle part
Gladiolus body, biggest part; joins
manubrium at sternal angle
Ensiform or xiphoid appendix:
inferior piece, pointed part.

Manubrium
Surface
Smooth affords attachment
Anterior: convex from side to side,
concave from above downward
Posterior: concave
Border
superior border: the thickest part
Centrally: pre sternal notch
Side: oval articular surface
Inferior: oval and rough, cover w/
thin layer of cartilage
Lateral: depression of the 1
st

costal cartilage
Small facet: forms notch for the
reception of the 2
nd
costal
cartilage
Gladiolus
Surface
anterior surface: nearly flat; marked by
three transverse ridges
posterior surface: slightly concave, is also
marked by three transverse lines
Border
Superior: oval and articulates with the
manubrium sternal angle
Inferior: narrow, and articulates with the
xiphoid process
Lateral border
superior angle:
has a small facet - forms a cavity for the
cartilage of the 2
nd
rib
below this are four angular depressions
- receive the cartilages of the
3
rd
,4
th
,5
th
,6
th
ribs
Inferior angle
has a small facet- forms a notch for the
cartilage of the 7
th
rib.
Xiphoid Appendix
Surface: affords attachments
Anterior: anterior costoxiphoid
ligament & Rectus abdominis
Posterior: posterior costoxiphoid
ligament, fibers of the diaphragm
&Transversus thoracis
Lateral: aponeuroses of the
abdominal muscles
Ossified in the upper part
Ossification
Originally 2 bars on each side
6 centres: 1- manubrium, 4 - body, &1 -
xiphoid process
manubrium and first piece of the body,
during the sixth month of fetal life
second and third pieces of the body
during the seventh month of fetal life
fourth piece, during the first year after
birth;
xiphoid process, between the fifth and
eighteenth years.
Ribs
elastic arches of bone, which form a
large part of the thoracic skeleton
situated one below the other in such a
manner that spaces called intercostal
spaces are left between them
Normally, 12 pairs are present
7 true ribs
3 false ribs
2 floating ribs
Common Characteristics
Posterior extremity:
Head: marked by a kidney-shaped
articular surface
Neck: flattened portion which extends
lateralward from the head
2.5 cm. long
Anterior: flat and smooth
Posterior: rough for the attachment of the
ligament of the neck
Superior: rough crest (crista colli cost)
Inferior: rounded
Tubercle
Tubercle
Articular: oval surface for articulation
Non-articular: rough elevation, and affords
attachment to the ligament of the tubercle
more prominent in the upper than in the lower
ribs.
Body:
External surface is convex, smooth
Marked - a little in front of the tubercle, by a
prominent line, directed downward and
lateralward angle
Internal surface is concave, smooth
Directed a little upward behind the angle
Superior border is thick and rounded, is
marked by an external and an internal lip


Inferior border is thin, and has
attached to it an Intercostalis
externus.
Between Internal Surface and the
inferior border is a groove, the costal
groove, for the intercostal vessels
and nerve.
Anterior Extremity:
flattened, and presents a porous,
oval, concave depression, into which
the costal cartilage is received.

Peculiar Ribs
1
st
, 2
nd
, 10
th,
11
th
, 12
th

The first rib is the most curved and
usually the shortest of all the ribs.
Head-small, rounded, possesses only a
single articular facet
no angle
upper surface: 2 grooves - scalene
tubercle
under surface: smooth, and destitute of a
costal groove
anterior extremity is larger and thicker

2
nd
rib: much longer than the first, but has
a very similar curvature
non-articular portion - feebly marked
angle is slight
posterior part there is a short costal
groove
10
th
rib: single articular facet on its head
11
th
rib: single articular facet on the head
no necks or tubercles
slight angle and a shallow costal groove
12
th
rib: almost the same w/ 11
th
rib
has neither of angle and costal groove
shorter



Ossification
ossified from four centers
primary center for the body
three epiphysial centers
one for the head and one each for the articular
and non-articular parts of the tubercle
eleventh and twelfth ribs have each only
two centers
Angle toward end - second month of fetal
life
Seen first in the sixth and seventh ribs
The epiphyses for the head and tubercle-
b/n the sixteenth and twentieth years;
united to the body about the twenty-fifth
year.
Costal Cartilage
Bars of hyaline cartilage
Function:
prolong the ribs forward
contribute very materially to the
elasticity
first seven pairs are connected with
the sternum
next three articulated w/ the 7
th

cartilage
last two have pointed extremities
Surface
Anterior surface: convex, and looks forward
and upward
Posterior surface: concave, and directed
backward and downward
Border
superior is concave, the inferior convex
Extremities
lateral end: continuous with the osseous
tissue of the rib
medial end of the first is continuous with the
sternum
medial ends of the six succeeding ones are
received into shallow concavities of the
sternum
medial ends of the eighth, ninth, and tenth
are connected
eleventh and twelfth are pointed and free
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