Anatomy study note · Thorax

Main and lobar bronchi

The trachea divides into right and left principal (main) bronchi, each supplying one lung; these divide into lobar bronchi, one for each lobe.

Key points

• Right: wider, shorter, more vertical → foreign bodies go right.
• Right: 3 lobar bronchi (superior arises outside the hilum). Left: 2.
• Left main bronchus: under the aortic arch, in front of the oesophagus.
• Lung buds → main bronchi; 3 lobar right, 2 left.
• Extrapulmonary: C-rings. Intrapulmonary: cartilage plates + spiral smooth muscle.

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. 5, PDF pp. 570–573, 594
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 14, PDF pp. 207–209, 210
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 15, PDF pp. 271–272

More from the thorax

• Mediastinal and tracheobronchial lymph nodes
• Mitral valve
• Pulmonary trunk
• Pulmonary valve
• Pulmonary veins
• Ribs
• Right atrium
• Right coronary artery
• Right ventricle
• Serratus posterior muscles
• Sternum
• Superior vena cava

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