Question

list the 8 body cavaties and the organs associated with each body cavity

Answer 1

Here are eight commonly listed body cavities with the main organs found in each:

- Cranial cavity
- Contains the brain, meninges, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and proximal portions of cranial nerves and blood vessels.

- Vertebral (spinal) cavity
- Contains the spinal cord, spinal meninges, spinal nerve roots and CSF.

- Right pleural cavity
- Contains the right lung and pleura; also small amounts of pleural fluid.

- Left pleural cavity
- Contains the left lung and pleura; also small amounts of pleural fluid.

- Pericardial cavity
- Contains the heart, pericardium (serous membranes) and the roots of the great vessels (proximal aorta, pulmonary trunk, venae cavae).

- Mediastinum (central compartment of the thorax)
- Contains the trachea, esophagus, thymus, major blood vessels (aorta, superior/inferior vena cava, pulmonary vessels), lymph nodes and nerves (including the vagus and phrenic). Note: the pericardial cavity sits within the mediastinum.

- Abdominal cavity
- Contains most digestive organs such as the stomach, liver, gallbladder, spleen, pancreas (mostly), small intestine, and the majority of the large intestine (transverse colon). (Kidneys, adrenal glands, pancreas head/duodenum and portions of colon are retroperitoneal.)

- Pelvic cavity
- Contains the urinary bladder, distal ureters, internal reproductive organs (uterus/ovaries in females; prostate/seminal vesicles in males), rectum and portions of the sigmoid colon.

Note: Many sources group the abdominal and pelvic cavities as the single abdominopelvic cavity; the thoracic cavity is likewise subdivided into the two pleural cavities and the mediastinum (which includes the pericardial cavity).