Relating to both the ribs and the diaphragm, particularly the space or angle where they meet at the base of the lungs.
From Latin 'costa' (rib) combined with 'diaphragmatic' from Greek 'diaphragma' (partition, the breathing muscle). The costodiaphragmatic recess is an anatomically significant space where the pleural membrane—the lung's lining—extends furthest downward.
The costodiaphragmatic recess is where your lungs can expand furthest when you breathe deeply—it's literally the 'bottom of the bucket' of your lungs, and radiologists look there first for signs of infection or fluid because gravity makes things settle there.
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