Just the Best, From the Chest Trivia Quiz

Answer: They are not directly connected to the sternum

The false ribs are those located below the level of the sternum, connected to it either via only a common, diagonal strip of cartilage (for the 8th, 9th and 10th ribs) or not at all (for the 11th and 12th, also called floating ribs). The seven fixed ribs all have direct, short, cartilage connections to the sternum.

Answer: The abdomen

The diaphragm marks the boundary between the thorax (chest cavity) and the abdomen (belly cavity). It stretches across the entire width of the body and has only a small number of passages - in fact, apart from some blood vessels, the only major structure passing through it is the esophagus.

The spine does not pass through the thoracic cavity or diaphragm at all - it runs completely behind it.

Answer: A connection between the space outside the lungs and open air

A pneumothorax is diagnosed when air can freely enter the area outside the lungs in the chest. As the lungs themselves are passive and do not contain muscle tissue, this prevents the breathing movements from inflating the lungs and can quickly lead to suffocation. An affected lung can collapse entirely, requiring mechanical ventilation. First aid for a pneumothorax patient consists of sealing the wound to restore the natural function.

Answer: Pulmonary artery

The pulmonary artery feeds deoxygenated blood to the lungs for reoxygenation and exhalation of carbon dioxide. The other three vessels are all part of systemic circulation: The aorta is the main artery from which all other arteries branch off, the inferior vena cava is the main vein leading blood back from the abdomen and lower body and the superior vena cava drains the head, neck and arms.

Answer: The heart takes up space on the left side

The right lung consists of three lobes while the left lung only has two. The difference is due to the heart's location left of the middle axis which leaves less space on that side. The upper lobes are nearly symmetrical to each other, but the left lower lobe is pushed to the side whereas the more voluminous right side has two more lobes (a middle and a lower one) stacked vertically.

Answer: The sternum

The xiphoid process is the lowest part of the sternum. It is quite fragile and located close to the optimal pressure point for CPR. If, during the performance of CPR, this structure breaks off, it can damage the diaphragm or even the liver, leading to severe, possibly life-threatening hemorrhages.

However that risk should never be a reason to abstain from performing CPR. If you don't do it, the person has very little chance to survive, so you can't make things worse, and if you're worried you might do it wrong, the best course of action is to attend a refresher course as soon as possible.

Answer: The immune system

The thymus is a major lymphatic organ mostly active during the fetal period and childhood. Various immune cell lines, called T cells (the T stands for thymus) originate in this organ. In adults, the thymus is not a vital organ and it can be removed in case of injuries, cancer or to improve access during certain heart surgeries (a procedure particularly necessary in the correction of some congenital heart defects, which, when carried out on neonates, leave the patient with some mild immune deficiencies for life).

Answer: Providing extra muscular power during strenuous activity

The pericardium is a double-layered sac of fibrous tissue filled with a serous fluid that encloses and limits the volume occupied by the heart itself. As a mechanical barrier, it provides protection against blunt trauma as well as against infection and it also prevents the heart muscle from taking damage from a sudden rush of blood volume returning to it (as may happen in the case of sharp accelerations or during a brief arterial blockage) by limiting its expansion.

However, not containing any muscle cells itself, the pericardium is not able to assist the heart's actual beating.

Answer: Anteriorly (to the front)

The larynx is the point where the throat canal splits into the trachea and the esophagus, both of which then separately lead down into the chest (and, in case of the esophagus, further down into the stomach). The trachea is located right in front of the neck and you can feel it as a hard structure right above your ribs if you touch the space between the ribs and the thyroid.

The esophagus is located further behind near the center of the neck. The relative locations of the two structures does not change along their length until the trachea branches into the two bronchi just above the heart.

Answer: They serve to raise and lower the heart rate

While the heart has its own pacemaker and thus, at least partially, functions on its own even without control from the brain, the brain exerts additional control over the heart rate via the vagus (decreasing the rate) and the sympathetic nerve (raising the rate). Without this control, an adult's resting heart rate is elevated and the heart can only poorly react to outside stimuli requiring a change of rate.

The volume of blood expelled with each beat is not controlled by the brain; it only depends on the tension of the heart muscle caused by arriving venous blood.