The pericardium is a fibro-serous sac which encloses the heart and in part, the great vessels entering and leaving the heart.
It consists of two layers, fibrous and serous. The fibrous layer is thin but strong and inelastic.
It is attached above to the great blood vessels at the base of the heart and below by two ligaments- the sterno pericardiac ligaments to the dorsal face of the sternum and an internal sternal ligament between the facets for the 6th costal cartilages.
The serous layer consists of parietal and visceral part and encloses between them a potential space containing a thin film of serous fluid called the liquor pericardii.
The parietal part lines the internal face of the fibrous layer to which it is closely adherent. The visceral part covers the heart and is termed the epicardium.
Horse
- The pericardium at the apex of the heart is attached to the middle part of the posterior half of the dorsal face of the sternum.
- The area of contact on the left side extends from the third rib to the sixth intercostal space and on the right from the third intercostal space to the fifth rib.
Dog
- The pericardium is attached to the sternal part of the diaphragm by a fibrous band the pericardiaco-phrenic ligament and is connected to the sternum only by mediastinal pleura.
- The area of contact is chiefly ventral.
Fowl
- The pericardium is thin and membranous.
- It is related to the lobes of the liver laterally, sternum below and trachea and esophagus dorsally.
