Posterior mediastinum

Posterior mediastinum
Mediastinum
A transverse section of the thorax, showing the contents of the middle and the posterior mediastinum.
Latin	mediastinum posterius
Gray's	subject #239 1093

The posterior mediastinum is an irregular triangular space running parallel with the vertebral column.

Boundaries

It is bounded:

• anteriorly by the pericardium (in front of)
• inferiorly by the thoracic surface of the diaphragm (below).
• superiorly by the transverse thoracic plane (above). This plane is marked by an imaginary line travelling through the manubriosternal joint to the dividing line between the fourth and fifth thoracic vertebrae.
• posteriorally by the bodies of the vertebral column from the lower border of the fifth to the twelfth thoracic vertebra (behind).
• laterally by the mediastinal pleura (on either side)

Content

• artery
  • thoracic part of the descending aorta
• veins
  • azygos vein
  • the hemiazygos vein and the accessory hemiazygos vein
• nerves
  • vagus nerve
  • splanchnic nerves (but not the sympathetic chain^[1])
• esophagus
• thoracic duct
• some lymph glands

The contents of posterior mediastinum can be remembered using the mnemonic, "DATES", for Descending aorta, Azygous vein and hemiazygos vein, Thoracic duct, Esophagus, Sympathetic trunk/ganglia.^[2]

See also

• mediastinum

References

1. ^ thoraxlesson5 at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) - "Posterior Mediastinum"
2. ^ "Medical mnemonic, Contents of Posterior mediastinum". LifeHugger. http://mc.lifehugger.com/moc/900/Posterior_mediastinum_Contents. Retrieved 2009-12-15. 

External links

• 2013659195 at GPnotebook
• Lab Manual - umich.edu

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 As such, some of the information contained within it may be outdated.

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