Infrasternal angle

{{Infobox anatomy

| Name = Infrasternal angle

| Latin = angulus infrasternalis

| Image = Gray112.png

| Caption = The human rib cage.

| Image2 = Gray114.png

| Caption2 = The thorax from the right.

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The lower opening of the thorax is formed by the twelfth thoracic vertebra behind, by the eleventh and twelfth ribs at the sides, and in front by the cartilages of the tenth, ninth, eighth, and seventh ribs, which ascend on either side and form an angle, the infrasternal angle or subcostal angle, into the apex of which the xiphoid process projects.

Pregnancy causes the angle to increase from 68° to 103°.{{cite journal |author=Campbell LA, Klocke RA |title=Implications for the pregnant patient |journal=Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. |volume=163 |issue=5 |pages=1051–4 |date=April 2001 |pmid=11316633 |doi= 10.1164/ajrccm.163.5.16353|url=http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=11316633}}