Middle mediastinum

Mediastinum
3D rendering of a high resolution computed tomography of the thorax, with mediastinum marked in blue.
Mediastinum. The division between superior and inferior is at the sternal angle.
Details
Identifiers
Latin	mediastinus
Dorlands /Elsevier	m_06/12518945
TA	A07.1.02.101
FMA	9826
Anatomical terminology []

Widened mediastinum
Synonyms	Mediastinal widening
Widened mediastinum in a patient with achalasia
Classification and external resources
ICD-9-CM	519.3
DiseasesDB	29459
[]

The mediastinum (from Medieval Latin mediastinus, "midway") is the central compartment of the thoracic cavity surrounded by loose connective tissue, as an undelineated region that contains a group of structures within the thorax. The mediastinum contains the heart and its vessels, the esophagus, trachea, phrenic and cardiac nerves, the thoracic duct, thymus and lymph nodes of the central chest.

The mediastinum lies within the thorax and is enclosed on the right and left by pleurae. It is surrounded by the chest wall in front, the lungs to the sides and the spine at the back. It extends from the sternum in front to the vertebral column behind, and contains all the organs of the thorax except the lungs. It is continuous with the loose connective tissue of the neck.

The mediastinum can be divided into an upper (or superior) and lower (or inferior) part:

Anatomists, surgeons, and clinical radiologists compartmentalize the mediastinum differently. For instance, in the radiological scheme of Felson, there are only three compartments (anterior, middle, and posterior), and the heart is part of the anterior mediastinum.

The superior mediastinum is bounded:

A number of structures occur at the level of the thoracic plane, which divides the superior and inferior mediastinum:

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Is bounded:

Bounded: pericardial sac – It contains the vital organs and is classified into the serous and fibrous pericardium.

Is bounded:

A transverse section of the thorax, showing the contents of the middle and the posterior mediastinum.