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Middle lobe of right lung: anatomy, location and function

The middle lobe is the wedge of the right lung that lies between the horizontal and oblique fissures, at the front and side of the lower chest. Only the right lung has one. Its air spaces take part in gas exchange. Air reaches it through the middle lobe bronchus, which arises from the bronchus intermedius.

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Highlighted in the model: Middle lobe of right lung. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. Use Male / Female to switch bodies. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science; knee ligaments, menisci, tonsils, palate and parotid glands from the Human Reference Atlas Visible Human Male model and female parts from its Visible Human Female model (HuBMAP / NIH); lung lobes built from the BodyParts3D chest; all CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The default body is an adult male.

Middle lobe of right lung at a glance

Also called
Right middle lobe
What it is
The middle lobe is the wedge of the right lung that lies between the horizontal and oblique fissures, at the front and side of the lower chest. Only the right lung has one.
Location
The horizontal fissure, running from the sternum at about the level of the 4th rib, forms its upper border. The oblique fissure, which runs from the fifth rib in the mid-axillary line down to the sixth rib in front, separates it from the lower lobe behind.
Function
Its air spaces take part in gas exchange. Air reaches it through the middle lobe bronchus, which arises from the bronchus intermedius.
Body system
Respiratory · right side only
FMA ID
FMA7383 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • It has two bronchopulmonary segments, lateral and medial.
  • It is the smallest lobe: CT studies of healthy adults put it at about 8 to 11% of the volume of both lungs.
  • On the left side the lingula of the upper lobe takes the corresponding position; it also has two segments.

Structures next to the middle lobe of right lung

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Middle lobe of right lung (FMA7383). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. TeachMeAnatomy. The Lungs.
  3. Radiopaedia. Horizontal fissure.
  4. Radiopaedia. Bronchopulmonary segmental anatomy.
  5. Radiopaedia. Lungs.
  6. Silva M. et al. Lung volume and heterogeneity: CT quantification of lobar contribution. RSNA 2014 abstract.
  7. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §22.1 Organs and Structures of the Respiratory System. Rice University, 2022.
  8. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
  9. Radiopaedia. Oblique fissure (surface anatomy used to place the oblique fissures in the 3D lungs).
  10. Radiopaedia. Horizontal fissure (surface anatomy used to place the horizontal fissure in the 3D right lung).

Related anatomy

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.