Viscera refers to which anatomical structures?

• A. Muscles
• B. Skeleton
• C. Blood Vessels
• D. Internal organs

Answer: (D)

Viscera refers to the internal organs—the soft structures housed within the body's cavities. This includes the heart and lungs in the chest, and the liver, stomach, intestines, kidneys, and other organs in the abdomen and pelvis. Viscera are the parts that perform the body's essential organ functions, not the tissues you use to move (muscles) or the framework that supports the body (skeleton). Blood vessels are part of the circulatory system rather than viscera, though they run through and around these organs. In clinical language you might hear about the thoracic viscera or the abdominal viscera to denote these internal organs as a group.