Xiphoid process at a glance
- What it is
- The small lowest part of the sternum.
- Location
- Lies below the body of the sternum at the xiphisternal joint.
- Function
- Gives attachment to the diaphragm and rectus abdominis.
- Body system
- Skeletal · single, midline structure
- FMA ID
- FMA7488 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Cartilaginous at birth; it ossifies slowly and often not fully until about age 40.
- The xiphisternal joint lies at about the level of T9.
Clinical relevance
Misplaced CPR compressions can fracture it.
Structures next to the xiphoid process
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Fifth costal cartilage · skeletal
- Sixth costal cartilage · skeletal
- Anterior papillary muscle of ventricle · cardiovascular
- Body of sternum · skeletal
- Fourth costal cartilage · skeletal
- Seventh costal cartilage · skeletal
- Transversus thoracis · muscular
- Hepatic vein · cardiovascular
- Anterior cardiac vein · cardiovascular
- Hepatovenous segment IV · digestive
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Xiphoid process (FMA7488). 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.