Muscle, Pleuroesophageal (M. Pleuroesophageus, Pna, Bna; M. Pleuroesophagicus, Jna)

The pleuroesophageal muscle (lat. m. pleuroesophageus) is a thin flat muscle located between the esophagus and the pleural cavity. It comes from the posterior surface of the esophagus to the droplet membrane.

The pleuroesophageal muscle has several synonymous names:

1. M. pleuroesophageus (PNA, BNA) - nomenclature according to the Paris anatomical nomenclature and the Basel anatomical nomenclature, respectively.

2. M. pleurooesophagicus (JNA) - nomenclature according to Jena Anatomical Nomenclature.

The main function of this muscle is to fix the esophagus to the pleural cavity. It prevents the esophagus from moving during swallowing. The pleuroesophageal muscle is innervated by branches of the vagus nerve.

The pleuroesophagi cus muscle belongs to the internal deep muscles and has a structure that is completely unusual for human muscle tissue. On the right side, it partially occupies the third and fourth intercostal spaces and the right half of the diaphragmatic opening. The muscle originates at the upper border of the esophagus, and its ends are attached to the ribs, and the latter begins to migrate from the sixth to the eighth rib from left to right. The size and shape of facial muscles directly depend on age. In newborns, they are much smaller in size than in adults, but they are increased in volume in an infant due to a larger number of transverse fibrous formations inside them. In most cases, after five years, a decrease in muscle volume occurs. The exception is pathologies in which changes in all paravertebral muscles are observed.