The eparterial bronchus (right superior lobar bronchus) is a branch of the
right main bronchus
A bronchus is a passage or airway in the lower respiratory tract that conducts air into the lungs. The first or primary bronchi pronounced (BRAN-KAI) to branch from the trachea at the carina are the right main bronchus and the left main bronch ...
given off about 2.5 cm from the
bifurcation of the trachea
In anatomy, the carina or tracheal bifurcation is a ridge of cartilage in the trachea that occurs between the division of the two main bronchi.
Structure
The carina occurs at the lower end of the trachea (usually at the level of the 4th to 5t ...
. This branch supplies the superior lobe of the right lung and is the most superior of all secondary bronchi. It arises above the level of the right
pulmonary artery
A pulmonary artery is an artery in the pulmonary circulation that carries deoxygenated blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs. The largest pulmonary artery is the ''main pulmonary artery'' or ''pulmonary trunk'' from the heart, and ...
, and for this reason is named the eparterial bronchus. All other distributions falling below the pulmonary artery are termed ''hyparterial''.
The eparterial bronchus is the only
secondary bronchus with a specific name apart from the name of its corresponding lobe.
Name
The classification of ''eparterial'' and ''hyparterial'' is attributed to
Swiss anatomist
Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...
and
anthropologist Christoph Theodor Aeby
Christoph Theodor Aeby (25 February 1835 – 7 July 1885) was a Swiss anatomist, anthropologist, and academic. His main scientific interest comparative anatomy and his studies were said to be facilitated by a large collection of bones, which he ...
, and is central to his model of the anatomical lung. He presented this model in a monograph titled, "Der Bronchialbaum der Säugethiere und des Menschen, nebst Bemerkungen über den Bronchialbaum der Vögel und Reptilien".
References
External links
* - "Pleural Cavities and Lungs: The Bronchi and Their Divisions"
*
{{Authority control
Bronchus