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Body Cavities and Their Subdivisions

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  • What are the two major body cavities?
    The two major body cavities are the posterior body cavity and the anterior body cavity.
  • What are the subdivisions of the posterior body cavity?
    The posterior body cavity includes the cranial cavity (protects the brain) and the vertebral or spinal cavity (protects the spinal cord).
  • What separates the two main divisions of the anterior body cavity?
    The diaphragm muscle, a dome-shaped muscle that functions in breathing, separates the anterior body cavity into the thoracic and abdominopelvic cavities.
  • What are the two main divisions of the anterior body cavity?
    The thoracic cavity (superior to the diaphragm) and the abdominopelvic cavity (inferior to the diaphragm).
  • What smaller cavities are housed within the thoracic cavity?
    The thoracic cavity contains the pleural cavities (surround lungs), the mediastinum (houses heart, great vessels, trachea, esophagus), and the pericardial cavity (surrounds the heart).
  • What is the function of the pleural cavities?
    Each pleural cavity surrounds one lung and is located within serous membranes.
  • What does the mediastinum contain and is it within a serous membrane?
    The mediastinum contains the heart, great blood vessels, trachea, and esophagus, and it is not located within a serous membrane.
  • Where is the pericardial cavity located?
    The pericardial cavity is within the inferior mediastinum and surrounds the heart inside a serous membrane.
  • What are the two divisions of the abdominopelvic cavity?
    The abdominal cavity (from diaphragm to bony pelvis) and the pelvic cavity (within the bony pelvis).
  • Which systems' organs are found in the abdominal cavity?
    The abdominal cavity contains organs from the digestive, lymphatic, and urinary systems.
  • What is the peritoneal cavity?
    A subcavity within the abdominal cavity, located inside serous membranes, containing some abdominal organs.
  • Which systems' organs are found in the pelvic cavity?
    The pelvic cavity contains organs from the reproductive, digestive, and urinary systems.
  • How is the abdominopelvic cavity divided into four quadrants?
    Two lines through the umbilical region: one transverse and one midsagittal, creating the right upper (RUQ), left upper (LUQ), right lower (RLQ), and left lower (LLQ) quadrants.
  • How is the abdominopelvic cavity divided into nine regions?
    Using four lines: two parasagittal and two transverse, dividing the cavity into nine anatomical regions.
  • Where is the epigastric region located?
    The epigastric region is between the right and left hypochondriac regions and superior to the stomach.
  • What are the lumbar regions named for?
    The right and left lumbar regions are named because they are located near the lumbar vertebrae.
  • What is located in the umbilical region?
    The umbilical region contains the umbilicus (belly button).
  • What are the iliac or inguinal regions?
    The right and left inferior regions of the abdominopelvic cavity, named for the anatomical areas they overlie.
  • Where is the hypogastric region located?
    The hypogastric region is located between the two iliac regions and is inferior to the stomach.