Advanced Pleural Cavity Quiz

Q1. How does intrapleural pressure normally compare with atmospheric pressure?

• It is unrelated
• It is always higher
• It is always identical
• It is lower

Q2. What happens when the pleural cavity communicates freely with atmospheric air?

• The lung permanently expands
• The lung may collapse
• The mediastinum disappears
• Pleural fluid becomes blood

Q3. Which forces help keep visceral and parietal pleura closely opposed?

• Surface tension and pressure gradient
• Skeletal muscle contraction
• Arterial pulsation only
• Cartilage rings

Q4. At the midclavicular line, the inferior pleural reflection reaches approximately which rib?

• Eighth rib
• Twelfth rib
• Fourth rib
• Sixth rib

Q5. At the midaxillary line, the inferior pleural reflection reaches approximately which rib?

• Tenth rib
• Eighth rib
• Sixth rib
• Twelfth rib

Q6. Why is a needle placed just superior to a rib during thoracentesis?

• To puncture the diaphragm
• To avoid the sternum
• To enter a bronchus
• To avoid the main neurovascular bundle

Q7. Which recess is targeted when draining a dependent pleural effusion?

• Costodiaphragmatic recess
• Costomediastinal recess
• Pulmonary hilum
• Superior mediastinum

Q8. What distinguishes a tension pneumothorax from a simple pneumothorax?

• Only pleural fluid accumulates
• Both lungs always remain expanded
• Absence of pleural air
• Progressive positive pleural pressure

Q9. Why can unilateral pleural disease initially spare the opposite lung?

• The mediastinum contains no structures
• The lungs share one pleural cavity
• The pleura cannot transmit pressure
• The pleural cavities are separate

Q10. Which process normally removes excess fluid from the pleural cavity?

• Alveolar ventilation
• Pulmonary arterial flow
• Bronchial secretion
• Parietal pleural lymphatic drainage