{"id":2363,"date":"2024-01-15T09:25:41","date_gmt":"2024-01-15T08:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/the-chest-thorax\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T19:57:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T17:57:24","slug":"the-chest-thorax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/en\/the-chest-thorax\/","title":{"rendered":"The Chest (Thorax)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/thorax-brustkorb.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1551\" style=\"aspect-ratio:4\/3;object-fit:cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/thorax-brustkorb.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/thorax-brustkorb-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/thorax-brustkorb-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/thorax-brustkorb-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/thorax-brustkorb-585x585.jpg 585w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Anatomy of the Chest (Thorax):<\/h5>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The thorax is the chest. Posteriorly, it is bounded by the twelve vertebrae of the thoracic spine, anteriorly by the sternum, and laterally by twelve ribs on each side. The inferior border is formed by the diaphragm. The superior border is formed by the shoulder girdle (clavicles, scapulae, shoulder joints, sternum with the AC joints, IC joints, and shoulder joints).<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The thorax is an elastic and resilient system that enables respiration through the muscles located between the ribs. Muscles run along the inside of the ribs, which lower the ribs, thereby reducing the thoracic cavity and enabling exhalation. Muscles run along the outside of the ribs, which raise the ribs and thus enable inhalation. The diaphragm, a thin muscular plate that separates the thoracic cavity from the abdominal cavity, also supports breathing: when the diaphragm contracts, inhalation occurs, and the abdominal organs bulge outwards. When the diaphragm relaxes, the abdominal organs push back inwards, and the diaphragm is pushed upwards. This reduces the space in the thoracic cavity again, leading to exhalation.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another function of the bony thorax is the protection of organs: the heart and lungs, as well as the great vessels.<\/p>\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Diseases and Consequences of Accidents to the Chest (Thorax)<\/h5>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In many accidents, parts of the chest (thorax) are injured: rib fracture, serial rib fractures, sternum fracture,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>thoracic vertebral fractures, clavicle fracture, scapula fracture, dislocation of the AC joint, dislocation of the IC joint, dislocation of the shoulder joint, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thoracic wall hernia, often as a result of an accident or after a surgical procedure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tumors of the chest wall, benign and malignant; also metastases from other primary tumors;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Congenital chest wall deformities, such as pectus carinatum (pigeon chest) and pectus excavatum (funnel chest).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Acquired chest wall deformities, after accidents or as a result of degenerative changes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anatomy of the Chest (Thorax): The thorax is the chest. Posteriorly, it is bounded by the twelve vertebrae of the thoracic spine, anteriorly by the sternum, and laterally by twelve&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thorax-function-and-anatomy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2363"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2364,"href":"https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363\/revisions\/2364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thorax-schweiz.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}