Right upper lobe segmental bronchi
Segmental bronchi · Apical Posterior Anterior
Apical, posterior and anterior segmental (tertiary) bronchi, each the axis of its own bronchopulmonary segment: a pyramidal unit of lung with its own bronchus and pulmonary artery branch at its centre, drained by pulmonary veins running in the intersegmental planes, and resectable on its own.
Traced from the start
- Trachea
- Right main bronchus
- Right upper lobe bronchus
- Right upper lobe segmental bronchi
Detail
- Segments
- Apical (1), posterior (2), anterior (3)
- Bronchopulmonary segment
- Segmental bronchus and segmental pulmonary artery run together in the centre; pulmonary veins lie in the planes between segments and mark the boundaries
- Wall
- Generation 3; cartilage is now irregular plates rather than rings, with glands and goblet cells still present
When it goes wrong
Reactivation tuberculosis, aspergilloma or Pancoast tumour
Apical and posterior segments; a Pancoast tumour invades the T1 root and stellate ganglion, giving wasting of the small hand muscles and Horner syndrome
Segmentectomy for a small peripheral tumour or bronchiectasis
Possible because each segment has its own bronchus and artery; the surgeon follows the intersegmental veins as the plane of resection
Practise this structure
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