GROSS ANATOMY

Detailed explanation-1: -Your mediastinum is a space in your chest that holds your heart and other important structures. It’s the middle section of your thoracic cavity, between your left and right pleural cavities (which hold your lungs).

Detailed explanation-2: -The heart is located within the middle mediastinum, alongside many blood vessels and lymph nodes. The middle mediastinum is its largest compartment.

Detailed explanation-3: -POTENTIAL SPACES IN THE MEDIASTINUM The pretracheal space is a triangular space bounded anterolaterally by the superior vena cava and right brachiocephalic vein on the right, the aorta and pericardium on the left, and the trachea posteriorly.

Detailed explanation-4: -Mediastinum/Heart The transversal cardiac diameter is < 14.5 cm for females and < 15.5 cm for males. Enlargement of the cardiac shadow > 1.5 cm in transverse diameter is considered significant.

Detailed explanation-5: -STRUCTURE OF THE HEART The heart weighs about 300 g and is located within the mediastinum; it is cone-shaped and tilted forward and to the left. Because of rotation during fetal development, the apex of the heart (tip of the cone) is at its bottom and lies left of the midline.