Pulmonary fissures and lobes: a cadaveric study with emphasis on surgical and radiological implications

The objective was to study the morphology of fissures and lobes of the lung in South Indian population.

The study included 60 adult cadaveric lungs which were obtained from the human anatomy laboratory. The specimens were macroscopically observed for gross morphology of fissures and lobes.

Only 32 (53.3%) lungs showed the fissures and lobes as described in the standard anatomy texts. Among the right lungs, 15 (46.9%) had incomplete horizontal fissure, 6 lungs (18.7%) had absence of the horizontal fissure and one lung (3.1%) had the azygous lobe. The remaining 10 right lungs (31.3%) showed the usual morphology. In the left lungs, normal morphology was observed in 22 cases (78.6%), 2 lungs had incomplete oblique fissure (7.1%), one lung had (3.6%) absence of the oblique fissure, one lung showed an accessory fissure and lobe (3.6%). The anomalous multiple fissures and lobar pattern was observed in 2 cases (7.1%).

Morphological knowledge of fissures and lobes of the lung is of importance to the thoracic surgeons in performing lobectomies and segmental resection. The radiologists should have an idea about these variations in interpreting the MRI and CT scans. We believe that the data from the present study certainly adds an important reference in the medical literature.