Pleura C79.88

The pleura (from Greek pleura: "flank", "rib"), the pleura, consists of a thin serous skin in the thoracic cavity, which on the one hand covers the lungs and on the other hand lines the thoracic cavity from the inside.

The pkeura is divided into the parietal pleura with the following sections:

• pars (pleura) costalis
• pars (pleura) diaphragmatica
• Pars (pleura) mediastinalis
• Pars (pleura) cervicalis with the cupula pleurae

and the visceral pleura which covers the entire lung (pleura pulmonalis).

The pleural gap (cavitas pleuralis) lies between the two pleural leaves. Physiologically, this space contains a serous fluid of about 5 - 10 ml. On the one hand, this fluid allows the pleural leaves to slide during inhalation and expiration and, at the same time, it connects the pleural leaves to each other by capillary force.

In the pleural gap there is basically a negative pressure which changes by about 10 mbar during normal breathing. There is direct contact to the lymphatic system via the lymphstomata located in the pleura parietalis. There are no such stomata in the visceral pleura.

The physiological fluid present in the pleural gap flows together from several places: from the interstitium of the lung, from the pleural capillaries, from the lymph channels located in the thoracic wall and from the peritoneal cavity. Resorption takes place via the lymph vessels of the parietal pleura. In this way 1x/h the complete fluid is exchanged.

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