Lungs — Tashrih

Step 1

Choose an organ

Step 2

Trachea: Carries air to the lungs
Carina: The ridge where the trachea forks in two
Right Lung: Three lobes
Left Lung: Two lobes, room for the heart
Lung Apex: Rises above the first rib, into the base of the neck
Bronchus: Branching airway
Hilum: The root — vessels, airway, and nerves enter here
Oblique Fissure: Deep cleft separating the lobes
Cardiac Notch: Scoop in the left lung where the heart sits
Lung Base: Rests on the diaphragm
Diaphragm: The muscle that actually does the breathing
Horizontal Fissure: On the right lung only — the shelf that cuts the superior lobe off from the middle one
Middle Lobe: The right lung's third lobe, small and set at the front; the left has no counterpart to it
Lingula: The tongue of left lung hanging under the cardiac notch — the middle lobe's opposite number in everything but name
Left Main Bronchus: Longer and more horizontal than the right one, which is why an inhaled object usually goes down the other side
Costodiaphragmatic Recess: The empty pleural gutter below the lung's own edge — where fluid settles, and where a drain is aimed
Costal Pleura: The parietal layer against the ribs; somatic nerves supply it, and that is what makes pleurisy sharp

Step 3

Microscopic view

Compare organs

Function animation

Clinical notes

Sudden breathlessness with sharp, breath-catching chest pain — a pulmonary embolism or a collapsed lung.
Coughing blood is never normal — infection, embolism, or tumour, each needing urgent work-up.
In severe asthma, a chest too tight to wheeze — the silent chest — means respiratory arrest is close.

Where it works

An airway and an enormous folded membrane, arranged so that oxygen can cross into blood and carbon dioxide can leave.