Anatomy study note · Upper limb

Latissimus dorsi

A wide sheet of muscle across the lower back that sweeps up to the arm, forming the posterior axillary fold together with teres major.

Key points

• Iliac crest + lumbar fascia + T7–T12 spines + lower ribs → floor of the bicipital groove.
• Thoracodorsal nerve (C6, 7, 8).
• Extends, adducts, medially rotates the arm.
• Posterior axillary fold (with teres major).
• Limb muscles: in situ from limb-bud mesenchyme.
• Upper limb bud C4–T2; lower limb bud L2–S2.
• Skeletal muscle: multinucleated, peripheral nuclei, striated.
• Epimysium → perimysium → endomysium.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Origin · Insertion · Action · Nerve supply · Histology · Development

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 3, PDF p. 302
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 7, PDF p. 109; ch. 10, PDF pp. 142–145
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 8, PDF pp. 135–144

More from the upper limb

• Levator scapulae
• Long thoracic nerve
• Lumbricals of the hand
• Medial cutaneous nerves of arm and forearm
• Median cubital vein
• Median nerve
• Metacarpal bones
• Metacarpophalangeal and interphalangeal joints of the hand
• Musculocutaneous nerve
• Nerve to subclavius
• Palmar aponeurosis
• Palmaris longus

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