Seventh rib at a glance
- Also called
- Rib 7
- What it is
- The seventh rib. A typical rib and the last of the true ribs.
- Location
- Part of the thoracic cage, curving from the seventh thoracic vertebra behind around the chest wall toward the front. A true rib.
- Function
- Protects the thoracic organs and, by moving at its vertebral joints, changes chest volume during breathing.
- Body system
- Skeletal · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA8256 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Typical rib: the head has two facets articulating with its own vertebra and the one above, and the tubercle articulates with the transverse process; the costal groove along the lower border protects the intercostal vessels and nerve.
- It is the lowest rib to attach directly to the sternum with its own costal cartilage.
- Rib length increases from rib 1 to rib 7 and then decreases, so rib 7 is usually the longest.
Structures next to the seventh rib
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Sixth rib · skeletal
- Eighth rib · skeletal
- Posterior vein of ventricle · cardiovascular
- Hepatovenous segment VIII · digestive
- Serratus anterior · muscular
- Inferior pulmonary vein · cardiovascular
- Inferior lingular bronchial tree · respiratory
- Posterior leaflet of mitral valve · cardiovascular
- Circumflex branch of coronary artery · cardiovascular
- Middle cardiac vein · cardiovascular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Seventh rib (FMA8256). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §7.1 Divisions of the Skeletal System. Rice University, 2022.
- 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.
Related anatomy
Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.