Pericardial ligaments
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At the time the article was created Craig Hacking had no recorded disclosures.
View Craig Hacking's current disclosuresAt the time the article was last revised Jason Ma had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Jason Ma's current disclosures- pericardiophrenic ligaments
- pericardiophrenic ligament
- sternopericardial ligaments
- sternopericardial ligament
The pericardial ligaments is a name given to a group of variable fibrous ligaments or adhesions that connect the pericardium to adjacent structures. These ‘ligaments’ tether the fibrous pericardium to its surrounds, hence movements of the chest wall and diaphragm influence the position of the heart and pericardium in the mediastinum.
There are 2 main ligaments described in standard texts with differing importance:
pericardiophrenic ligaments: these are strong adhesions where the floor of the fibrous pericardium is firmly attached (and some authors say blended with) the central tendon of the diaphragm.
sternopericardial ligaments: these are weak adhesions that are variably present that connect the anterior fibrous pericardium to the posterior surface of the upper and lower sternum.
The fibrous pericardium also blends with the tunica adventitia of the ascending aorta, pulmonary trunk and superior vena cava in the superior mediastinum. There are also un-named adhesions that loosely fix the fibrous pericardium to the posterior mediastinum.
References
- 1. Last's anatomy, regional and applied. Churchill Livingstone. ISBN:044304662X. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
- 2. Moore KL, Agur AMR, Dalley AF. Clinically oriented anatomy. LWW. ISBN:1451119453. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
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