Levatores costarum muscles

Levatores costarum muscles
Deep muscles of the back. (Levatores costarum labeled vertically at center left.)
Latin	musculi levatores costarum
Gray's	subject #117 403
Origin	Transverse processes of C7 to T12 vertebrae
Insertion	Superior surfaces of the ribs immediately inferior to the preceding vertebrae
Artery
Nerve	dorsal rami C8-T11
Actions	Assists in elevation of the thoracic rib cage

The Levatores costarum, twelve in number on either side, are small tendinous and fleshy bundles, which arise from the ends of the transverse processes of the seventh cervical and upper eleven thoracic vertebrae

They pass obliquely downward and lateralward, like the fibers of the Intercostales externi, and each is inserted into the outer surface of the rib immediately below the vertebra from which it takes origin, between the tubercle and the angle (Levatores costarum breves).

Each of the four lower muscles divides into two fasciculi, one of which is inserted as above described; the other passes down to the second rib below its origin (Levatores costarum longi).

External links

• LUC lc
• 597295163 at GPnotebook
• Levator+costarum+muscles at eMedicine Dictionary

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated.

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