Pericardium

Infobox Anatomy
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GrayPage = 524

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Caption = Posterior wall of the pericardial sac, showing the lines of reflection of the serous pericardium on the great vessels.

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Caption2 = A transverse section of the thorax, showing the contents of the middle and the posterior mediastinum. The pleural and pericardial cavities are exaggerated since normally there is no space between parietal and visceral pleura and between pericardium and heart Paricardium is also known as cariac epidemis.
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Artery = pericardiacophrenic artery
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MeshName = Pericardium
MeshNumber = A07.541.795
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The pericardium is a double-walled sac that contains the heart and the roots of the great vessels.

Layers

There are two layers to the pericardial sac: the fibrous pericardium and the serous pericardium. The serous pericardium, in turn, is divided into two layers, the "parietal pericardium", which is fused to and inseparable from the fibrous pericardium, and the "visceral pericardium", which is part of the epicardium. The epicardium is the layer immediately outside of the heart muscle proper (the myocardium).

In between the parietal and visceral pericardial layers there is a potential space called the pericardial cavity. It is normally lubricated by a film of pericardial fluid. Too much fluid in the cavity (such as in a pericardial effusion) can result in pericardial tamponade, compression of the heart within the pericardial sac.

Diseases/Abnormalities

* Pericarditis resulting in pericardial friction rub
* Pericardial effusion which may lead to cardiac tamponade.

Religious Symbolism

The 10th century CE Islamic mystic Hallaj described God as He "who flows between the pericardium and the heart, just as the tears flow from the eyelids." ["Mystical Dimensions of Islam" (1975), Schimmel, Annemarie, University of North Carolina Press, pg. 71]

=Additional

References

*cite book
last=Schimmel
first=Annemarie
title=Mystical Dimensions of Islam
year=1975
publisher=University of North Carolina Press
location=Chapel Hill
isbn=978-0-8078-1271-6

External links

* - "Mediastinum: Pericardium (pericardial sac)"
* (NormanAnatomyFig|heartpericardium)