Right superior lobar bronchus
Bronchus lobaris superior dexter
The first offshoot of the right main bronchus, arising above the right pulmonary artery to supply the upper lobe of the right lung.
At a glance
- English
- Right superior lobar bronchus
- Latin (TA2)
- Bronchus lobaris superior dexter
- System
- Respiratory
- Region
- Thorax
- Side
- Single, on the midline
About the right superior lobar bronchus
The right superior lobar bronchus leaves the outer wall of the right main bronchus only about two to two and a half centimetres below the carina, before the main bronchus has entered the lung proper. It is the highest of all the lobar (secondary) bronchi and the only one that lies above the pulmonary artery of its side. For this reason it has its own name, the eparterial bronchus, while every other lobar and segmental airway, all lying below the arteries, is described as hyparterial.
It runs outwards and slightly upwards for about one centimetre and then divides, usually into three segmental bronchi: an apical branch climbing to the dome of the lung, a posterior branch passing backwards and a little up, and an anterior branch running forwards and down. These match the three bronchopulmonary segments of the right upper lobe. The azygos vein arches over the main bronchus just beside its origin.
Its wall shows the standard bronchial structure, with cartilage plates, smooth muscle and a ciliated lining with goblet cells and seromucous glands. It is a conducting airway only.
The upper lobe is well ventilated but less well perfused than the lower lobes, which is one reason that tuberculosis and other infections favour its apical and posterior segments. In a small number of people this bronchus, or one of its branches, arises directly from the trachea above the carina; this tracheal bronchus is usually harmless but can cause repeated infection and complicates the placement of breathing tubes. Because it branches so close to the carina, a tube pushed too far into the right main bronchus can block its opening and collapse the upper lobe.
Function and supply
- Begins at
- The lateral wall of the right main bronchus, about two centimetres below the carina and above the right pulmonary artery.
- Ends at
- Divides into the apical, posterior and anterior segmental bronchi of the right upper lobe.
- Function
- Conducts air to and from the upper lobe of the right lung.
- Nerve supply
- Pulmonary plexus (vagal and sympathetic fibres).
- Blood supply
- Right bronchial artery; venous blood to the azygos vein.
Anthromica
See the right superior lobar bronchus where it really sits, with every layer of the body around it.
- Every layer, one body. Peel from muscle to bone, nerve, vessel and organ, and turn it any way.
- English and Latin. Every structure named the way your exam names it.
- Quiz until it sticks. Short drills on the structures you keep missing.
Free to start. No card.
