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Multiple Choice

What surrounds the left and right lungs?

The lungs are enclosed within their own pleural cavities, which are two thin, fluid-filled spaces formed by the visceral pleura covering each lung and the parietal pleura lining the chest wall and mediastinum. This arrangement keeps the lungs inflated and allows smooth movement as you breathe. The mediastinum is the central compartment between the lungs that houses the heart, major vessels, trachea, and other structures, not something that surrounds the lungs. The diaphragm lies below as the muscular separation between the thoracic and abdominal cavities, and alveoli are the tiny air sacs inside the lungs where gas exchange occurs. So the structures surrounding the lungs are the pleural cavities.

The lungs are enclosed within their own pleural cavities, which are two thin, fluid-filled spaces formed by the visceral pleura covering each lung and the parietal pleura lining the chest wall and mediastinum. This arrangement keeps the lungs inflated and allows smooth movement as you breathe. The mediastinum is the central compartment between the lungs that houses the heart, major vessels, trachea, and other structures, not something that surrounds the lungs. The diaphragm lies below as the muscular separation between the thoracic and abdominal cavities, and alveoli are the tiny air sacs inside the lungs where gas exchange occurs. So the structures surrounding the lungs are the pleural cavities.