Posterior mediastinum
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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:

• anteriorally by the pericardium (in front of)
• inferiorally by the thoracic surface of the diaphragm (below).
• superiorally 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 fourth 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

See also

• mediastinum

References

1. ^ Norman/Georgetown thoraxlesson5 - "Posterior Mediastinum"

External links

• 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 As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.

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