bronchopulmonary segments
Last reviewed 01/2018
A bronchopulmonary segment is the region of the lung supplied by one segmental bronchus. In tandem with the number of segmental bronchi, there are usually ten bronchopulmonary segments on each side.
Each bronchopulmonary segment is effectively an anatomically separate unit of the lung. Physiogically, as arteries tend to follow the ramification of the bronchial tree but veins tend to drain neighbouring segments via the intersegmental planes, there is slightly less functional independence. However, pathology is often localised to individual segments and this facilitates surgical identification and treatment.