The chest is characterized by long transverse diameter, short anterior and posterior diameter, narrow upper part and wide lower part. The space formed by the chest becomes the chest cavity, which contains important organs such as the heart and lungs.
The shape of the chest is related to health. The lesions of internal organs and sternum in the chest will change the shape of the chest. Some patients with severe wasting diseases or those who are extremely emaciated, the transverse diameter of the chest is reduced, and the transverse diameter of the chest is much smaller, forming a so-called flat chest. When suffering from atelectasis, lung atrophy or pleural effusion, chest wall tumor and other diseases, bilateral chest asymmetry can occur. Therefore, observing the chest type is one of the contents of disease examination and diagnosis. In addition, the characteristics of thoracic vertebrae on the thoracic surface are often used as bone signs in physical examination.