The Thoracic Portion of the Sympathetic System

Anatomy > Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body > IX. Neurology > 7b. The Thoracic Portion of the Sympathetic System

Henry Gray (1821–1865). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.

The Thoracic Portion of the Sympathetic System

The thoracic ganglia are paravertebral ganglia. The thoracic portion of the sympathetic trunk typically has 12 thoracic ganglia. Emerging from the ganglia are thoracic splanchnic nerves (the cardiopulmonary, the greater, lesser, and least splanchnic nerves) that help provide sympathetic innervation to abdominal structures. The thoracic part of sympathetic trunk lies posterior to the costovertebral pleura and is hence not a content of the posterior mediastinum

Also, the ganglia of the thoracic sympathetic trunk have both white and gray rami communicantes. The white rami carry sympathetic fibers arising in the spinal cord into the sympathetic trunk.

Additional images

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  The thoracic aorta, viewed from the left side.

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  Sympathetic connections of the ciliary and superior cervical ganglia.

External links

• Anatomy figure: 21:04-04 at Human Anatomy Online, SUNY Downstate Medical Center - "The position of the right and left vagus nerves, and sympathetic trunks in the mediastinum."
• Anatomy photo:43:15-0102 at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center - "The Female Pelvis: The Posterolateral Pelvic Wall"
• Atlas image: n3a6p1 at the University of Michigan Health System - "Autonomic Connections of the Spinal Cord"
• Diagram at umm.edu

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