Transversus thoracis at a glance
- What it is
- A thin muscle on the inner surface of the anterior thoracic wall.
- Location
- Originates from the posterior surface of the lower sternum and xiphoid process and inserts onto the inner surfaces of costal cartilages 2 to 6.
- Function
- Weakly depresses the costal cartilages in expiration.
- Body system
- Muscular · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA9761 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Innervation: intercostal nerves (T2–T6)
- Blood supply: internal thoracic artery
Structures next to the transversus thoracis
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Fourth costal cartilage · skeletal
- Fifth costal cartilage · skeletal
- Septal branch of anterior interventricular artery · cardiovascular
- Anterior papillary muscle of ventricle · cardiovascular
- Anterior interventricular vein · cardiovascular
- Third costal cartilage · skeletal
- Trunk of anterior interventricular branch of coronary artery · cardiovascular
- Anterior cardiac vein · cardiovascular
- Anterolateral head of lateral papillary muscle of ventricle · cardiovascular
- Body of sternum · skeletal
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Transversus thoracis (FMA9761). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §11.2 Naming Skeletal Muscles. 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.