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Chapter Summary
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Chapter 17: Respiratory System
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Introduction to the Respiratory System (pp.
583–584)
- Respiration refers not only to ventilation (breathing),
but also to the exchange of gases between the atmosphere, the blood, and individual
cells. Within cells, the metabolic reactions that release energy are called
cellular respiration.
- In order for the respiratory system to function,
the respiratory membranes must be moist, thin-walled, highly vascular, and
differentially permeable.
- The functions of the respiratory system include
gaseous exchange, sound production, assistance in abdominal compression, and
reflexive coughing and sneezing, and immune response.
Conducting Passages (pp. 585–592)
- The nose is supported by nasal bones and cartilages.
- The nasal epithelium warms, moistens, and cleanses
the inspired air.
- Olfactory epithelium is associated with the
sense of smell, and the nasal cavity acts as a resonating chamber for the
voice.
- The paranasal sinuses are found in the maxillary,
frontal, sphenoid, and ethmoid bones.
- These sinuses lighten the skull and are
lined with mucus-secreting goblet cells.
- Sinusitis is an inflammation of one or more
of the paranasal sinuses.
- The pharynx is a funnel-shaped passageway that
connects the oral and nasal cavities with the esophagus and larynx.
- The nasopharynx, connected by the auditory
tubes to the middle-ear cavities, contains the pharyngeal tonsils, or
adenoids.
- The oropharynx is the middle portion, extending
from the soft palate to the level of the hyoid bone; it contains the palatine
and lingual tonsils.
- The laryngopharynx extends from the hyoid
bone to the larynx and esophagus.
- The larynx contains a number of cartilages that
keep the passageway to the trachea open during breathing and closes the respiratory
passageway during swallowing.
- The epiglottis is a spoon-shaped structure
that aids in closing the laryngeal opening, or glottis, during swallowing.
- The vocal folds in the larynx are controlled
by intrinsic muscles and are used in sound production.
- The trachea is a rigid tube, supported by incomplete
rings of hyaline cartilage, that leads from the larynx to the bronchial tree.
- The bronchial tree includes a principal bronchus,
which divides to produce lobar bronchi, segmental bronchi, and bronchioles;
the conducting division ends with the respiratory bronchioles, which connect
to the pulmonary alveoli.
Pulmonary Alveoli, Lungs, and Pleurae (pp. 592–598)
- Pulmonary alveoli are the functional units of
the lungs, where gas exchange occurs; they are small, thin-walled air sacs.
- The right and left lungs are separated by the
mediastinum. Each lung is divided into lobes and lobules.
- The right lung is subdivided by two fissures
into superior, middle, and inferior lobes.
- The left lung is subdivided into a superior
lobe and an inferior lobe by a single fissure.
- The lungs are covered by visceral pleura, and
the thoracic cavity is lined by a parietal pleura.
- The potential space between these two pleural
membranes is called the pleural cavity.
- The pleural membranes compartmentalize each
lung and exclude the structures located in the mediastinum.
Mechanics of Breathing (pp. 598–603)
- Quiet (unforced) inspiration is due to contraction
of the diaphragm and certain intercostal muscles. Forced inspiration is aided
by the scalenes and the pectoralis minor and sternocleidomastoid muscles.
- Quiet expiration is produced by relaxation of
the respiratory muscles and elastic recoil of the lungs and thorax. Forced
expiration is aided by certain intercostal muscles and the abdominal muscles.
- Among the air volumes exchanged in ventilation
are tidal, inspiratory reserve, and expiratory reserve volumes.
- Nonrespiratory air movements are associated
with coughing, sneezing, sighing, yawning, laughing, crying, and hiccuping.
Regulation of Breathing (pp. 603–606)
- Ventilation is directly controlled by the rhythmicity
center in the medulla oblongata, which in turn is influenced by the pneumotaxic
and apneustic centers in the pons.
- These brain stem areas are affected by higher
brain function and by sensory input from chemoreceptors.
- Central chemoreceptors are located in the medulla
oblongata; peripheral chemoreceptors are located in the aortic and carotid
bodies.