Art of Bronchi

3D reconstruction of a CT scan showing the tracheobronchial tree including the trachea, mainstem bronchi, lobar airways and the segmental airways
Ashley Davidoff
TheCommonVein.net
THE HEART, LUNGS, AND PROXIMAL TRACHEOBRONCHIAL TREE
Ashley Davidoff MD
THE LUNGS AND THE TRACHEOBRONCHIAL TREE
A coronally reformated 3D image revealing the bronchial anatomy, from the trachea, (about) 1.6cms mainstem bronchi to the medium sized airways and finally to the small airways (2mm and less).
TheCommonVein.net 32679
CT Rendering of Lungs and Airways in Brown
Ashley Davidoff MD TheCommonVein.net lungs-0702
CT Rendering of Lungs and Airways in Blue and Red
Ashley Davidoff MD TheCommonVein.net lungs-0701
Main Stem Bronchi
To remember the difference in the sizes of the mainstem bronchi think of 2 very different men in the airways. The right – short, stout and cute, and the left – tall thin and gracile
The carinal angle is about 85 degrees
Ashley Davidoff MD TheCommonVein.net  42474b14b
Main Stem Bronchi
To remember the difference in the sizes of the mainstem bronchi think of 2 very different men in the airways. The right – short, stout and cute, and the left – tall thin and gracile
The carinal angle is about 85 degrees
Ashley Davidoff MD TheCommonVein.net  42474b10.8b
The Carinal Angle and ….. OLIVER HARDY AND STAN LAUREL IN THE 1939 FILM – THE FLYING DEUCES  Short and Stout Long and Thin

The Carinal Angle

 

NORMAL AND WIDENED CARINAL ANGLE
A dancer demonstrates a normal carinal angle (upper image) and as she continues to extend her left leg, (lower images) the angle becomes greater than 80 degrees and in terms of the carinal angle becomes abnormal.
Ashley Davidoff MD
THE KICK
Jim Sullivan kicking for England, in a rugby league match against Australia, 1933
THE KICK INSTEAD OF THE WALK – LEFT ATRIAL ENLARGEMENT
Margot Fonteyn dancing with Rudolf Nureyev during a rehearsal of Roland Petit’s Paradise Lost at Covent Garden in London in 1967 (PA Archive/PA)
In the chest X-ray the overpenetrated technique allows us a view of the proximal airways. With the digital method and expanded gray scale of CT, we are able to reconstruct the data and create a much improved image of the bronchi. Not only do we see the right and left mainstem bronchi but we are also able to see the bronchi of the lobes, including the right upper, right lower lobe, and left lower lobe branches in this instance. In addition two of the three segmental bronchi of the right upper lobe are clearly resolved on this tomographic image.
Ashley Davidoff M.D.
TheCommonVein.net 32682
Central Airways
This diagram shows the basic division of the tracheobronchial tree into lobes. The right lung is divided into right upper (RUL) (teal) right middle, (RML pink) and right lower lobe (RLL green). The left lung is divided into left upper (LUL teal), which includes the lingula(dark blue), and left lower lobe (LLL= green). Note that the two mainstem bronchi are of unequal length and size. The right mainstem is short and fat while the left is long and thin. This irregular dichotomous branching pattern is characteristic of the branching pattern of all the conducting systems within the lungs.
Ashley Davidoff
TheCommonVein.net
32686b05
Right lung
This diagram shows the segmental branches of the right bronchial system.  The RUL has three branches, the apical, posterior and anterior segments. (teal overlay)  The middle lobe has two segmental branches called lateral and medial segments. (pink)  The right lower lobe has five: the superior, anterior basal, lateral basal, posterior basal and medial basal segments.  Ashley Davidoff MD.   TheCommonVein.net 32686b03
Pulmonary arteries
This coronal reformat shows the position of the main branch pulmonary arteries relative to the position of their respective bronchi.  While the RPA runs under the right mainstem bronchus, the LPA runs above the left mainstem.
Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD TheCommonVein.net  32620b01

Histology

Histology of the Large and Medium Sized Airways
Airways are lined by a pseudostratified ciliated columnar epithelium interspersed with mucus secreting goblet cells
Ashley Davidoff
TheCommonVein.net lungs-00674b01-lo res
As the medium sized airways progress to to the small airways they lose many of the goblet cells, become a simple epithelium and remain ciliated
Ashley Davidoff
TheCommonVein.net
lungs-00675-lo-res
As the terminal bronchial transitions to the respiratory bronchial the mucosa becomes non ciliated and cuboidal
Ashley Davidoff
TheCommonVein.net
Basic Structure of Tubular Systems
Ashley Davidoff MD 
key words art mucosa submucosa muscularis adventitia serosa histology 32347 tube colon small bowel lung bronchus bronchi esophagus stomach large bowel bile duct ureter tube principles
Ashley Davidoff TheCommonVein.net

Physiology

This diagram reflects the laminar flow showing the almost parallel lines of flow that is characteristic of flow in the smaller tubes. Under resting conditions, laminar flow exists from the medium-sized bronchi onward down to the bronchioles. During exercise, the air flow is accelerated, and laminar flow may be confined only to the very small airways.
Ashley Davidoff MD TheCommonVein.net lungs-0703
This drawing shows the lines and circles of noisy turbulent flow, which is characteristic of flow in the larger airways.
Ashley Davidoff MD TheCommonVein.net lungs-0704

 

Trees in the Lungs

Gingko Chest
The tracheobronchial tree turned upside down shows it’s similarity to the branching pattern of a tree.
keywords lung bronchus tracheobronchial tree airway tree the common vein applied biology
Ashley Davidoff MD TheCommonVein.net
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Gingko Chest
Tracheobronchial Tree
 Tree, flower, tracheobronchial tree, trachea bronchi lung
Ashley Davidoff TheCommonVein.net 32620b14.800b02p

 

Tracheobronchial Tree
42474b18.800 lung trachea bronchi tracheobronchial tree 
Ashley Davidoff MD
TheCommonVein.net 42474b18.800
Cedars Along the River in the Summer
Top left image is sagittal oblique CT scan of the chest and shows a prominent sternum and heavily calcified costochondral junctions. When turned upside down (middle top , a cedar tree is created, then multiplied (middle image) and placed along a river in a mountain under a beautiful summer sun.
Ashley Davidoff MD TheCommonVein.net lungs-0708

Links and References