Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
pages 1085
| The Right Bronchus (bronchus dexter), wider, shorter, and more vertical in direction than the left, is about 2.5 cm. long, and enters the right lung nearly opposite the fifth thoracic vertebra. The azygos vein arches over it from behind; and the right pulmonary artery lies at first below and then in front of it. About 2 cm. from its commencement it gives off a branch to the upper lobe of the right lung. This is termed the eparterial branch of the bronchus, because it arises above the right pulmonary artery. The bronchus now passes below the artery, and is known as the hyparterial branch; it divides into two branches for the middle and lower lobes. |
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FIG. 961– Front view of cartilages of larynx, trachea, and bronchi. (See enlarged image) |
| The Left Bronchus (bronchus sinister) is smaller in caliber but longer than the right, being nearly 5 cm. long. It enters the root of the left lung opposite the sixth thoracic vertebra. It passes beneath the aortic arch, crosses in front of the esophagus, the thoracic duct, and the descending aorta, and has the left pulmonary artery lying at first above, and then in front of it. The left bronchus has no eparterial branch, and therefore it has been supposed by some that there is no upper lobe to the left lung, but that the so-called upper lobe corresponds to the middle lobe of the right lung. |