Anatomy study note · Thorax

Costal cartilages

Bars of hyaline cartilage that continue the ribs forward. They give the thoracic wall its elasticity and mobility.

Key points

• 1–7 → sternum; 8–10 → cartilage above (costal margin); 11–12 free.
• Rib–cartilage junction: cartilaginous, no movement.
• Calcify with age → rigid chest.
• Cartilage: mesenchymal condensation → chondroblasts.
• Costal cartilage: hyaline.
• Hyaline cartilage: type II collagen, perichondrium, avascular.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Features · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 4, PDF pp. 483–484, 489
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 7, PDF p. 94; ch. 10, PDF pp. 138, 140
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 7, PDF pp. 117–120

More from the thorax

• Descending thoracic aorta
• Diaphragm
• Esophagus
• First rib
• Heart
• Intercostal arteries
• Intercostal muscles
• Intercostal nerves
• Internal thoracic artery
• Internal thoracic vein
• Interventricular septum
• Joints of the ribs

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