Superior tracheobronchial nodes
Nodi tracheobronchiales superiores
Lymph nodes lying in the angle between the lower trachea and each main bronchus, on both sides of the tracheal bifurcation.
At a glance
- English
- Superior tracheobronchial nodes
- Latin (TA2)
- Nodi tracheobronchiales superiores
- System
- Lymphatic
- Region
- Whole body
- Side
- Single, on the midline
About the superior tracheobronchial nodes
The superior tracheobronchial nodes lie on each side of the bifurcation of the trachea, in the obtuse angle between the side of the lower trachea and the upper border of the main bronchus. They differ from the inferior tracheobronchial nodes, which fill the angle below the carina. On the right the group lies under the arch of the azygos vein, behind the superior vena cava; on the left it lies under the arch of the aorta, near the left recurrent laryngeal nerve as it turns upward.
These nodes are a collecting point for lymph from the lungs. Lymph from the lung tissue and bronchi drains to the intrapulmonary and bronchopulmonary nodes along the airways and at the hilum, and from there to the superior tracheobronchial nodes. They also receive the outflow of the inferior tracheobronchial nodes below. Their efferent vessels run up into the paratracheal nodes and then to the bronchomediastinal trunk on each side.
In life these nodes often look dark grey or black because of inhaled carbon particles carried to them from the lungs.
Enlargement occurs with lung cancer, tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, lymphoma and other chest diseases, and can widen the shadow of the mediastinum on a chest radiograph. In lung cancer, spread to them is a sign the tumour has reached the mediastinum, so they are sampled, by mediastinoscopy or by needle through the airway, before surgery is planned.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Afferent vessels from the bronchopulmonary nodes at each hilum and from the inferior tracheobronchial nodes.
- Drains into
- Efferent vessels pass to the paratracheal nodes and the bronchomediastinal trunks.
- Drains
- Filters lymph from both lungs at the tracheal bifurcation. Their involvement in lung cancer marks mediastinal spread; they enlarge in tuberculosis, sarcoidosis and lymphoma.
Anthromica
See the superior tracheobronchial nodes 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.
