What Is the Epicardium?

The epicardium is the visceral layer of the pericardium. Its structure is the serous membrane. Its surface layer is the mesothelium, and a thin layer of connective tissue beneath the mesothelium is connected to the myocardium. The epicardium contains blood vessels and nerves, and often has adipose tissue. The pericardial wall layer is lining on the inner surface of the pericardium, which is also a serosa, continuous with the epicardium. The pericardial cavity is between the parietal layer and the visceral layer, and there is a small amount of liquid in the cavity, which makes the parietal layer and the visceral layer moist and smooth, which is conducive to heart beat.

The epicardium (epicardium) is the visceral layer of the pericardium. Its structure is the serousmembrane. Its surface layer is the mesothelium, and a thin layer of connective tissue is connected to the myocardium. The epicardium contains blood vessels and nerves, and often has adipose tissue. The pericardial wall layer is lining on the inner surface of the pericardium, which is also a serosa, continuous with the epicardium. The pericardial cavity is between the parietal layer and the visceral layer, and there is a small amount of liquid in the cavity, which makes the parietal layer and the visceral layer moist and smooth, which is conducive to heart beat.

Chinese name

Epicardium

Foreign name

epicardium

1 Epicardium 1. Anatomy of epicardium:

It is a smooth serous membrane (that is, the visceral layer of serous pericardium) that is close to the heart muscle. Its structure is divided into two layers from the outside to the inside. The outer layer is the mesothelium and the deep layer is the mesothelial layer. It consists of a thin layer of connective tissue, which contains blood vessels, nerves and adipose tissue. The epicardial and serosal pericardial wall layers travel continuously to each other at the roots of the large blood vessels that enter and leave the heart. A closed space is formed between the two layers, called the pericardial cavity, which contains a small amount of serous fluid, so that the two layers are facing each other. Keep it moist and smooth to reduce friction when the heart beats.

2 Epicardium 2, physiological anatomy of the epicardium:

The pericardium is a fibrous serosal sac that surrounds the heart and the roots of large blood vessels and is divided into fibrous pericardium and serous pericardium. The fibrous pericardium is a dense connective tissue sac. The wall of the sac extends with the adventitia of the heart's large blood vessels and the anterior fascia of the trachea; the bottom is fused with the central tendon of the condyle; The two sides are connected to the left and right bronchus, esophagus, and thoracic aorta; the two sides are connected to the mediastinal pleura, and the phrenic nerve and pericardial iliac artery pass through. Serous pericardium is divided into visceral and parietal layers. The visceral layer covers the surface of the heart and large blood vessels, called the epicardium. The wall layer is attached to the inner surface of the fibrous pericardium. The two layers of the visceral wall migrate to each other at the roots of the large blood vessels that enter and leave the heart. The gap between the two layers is called the pericardial cavity and contains a small amount of serous fluid.

The serous pericardial wall layer and visceral layer migrate and retrace at the root of the large vessel to form two tubular sheaths. One surrounds the pulmonary artery and aortic root, and the other surrounds the left and right pulmonary veins and the superior and inferior vena cava. In the back of the left atrium, a part of the pericardial cavity between the roots of the left and right pulmonary veins and the inferior vena cava is called the oblique sinus pericardium, which can be detected by fingers from the lower and posterior direction of the apex. This sinus effusion is not easy to drain. In addition, the pericardial cavity between the anterior aorta and the pulmonary artery and posterior to the upper atrium is called the transverse pericardial sinus and can be detected by fingers. The arterial origin of the pericardium includes: the pericardial iliac artery of the internal thoracic artery, which branches nourish most of the pericardium; the pericardial branch of the inferior iliac artery, which is distributed in the lower part of the pericardium; Are branched to the back of the pericardium. The pericardial veins are usually accompanied by arteries, and they are injected into the singular vein, hemi-singular vein, internal thoracic vein, and subsacral vein. The pericardial lymphatics drain to the lymph nodes at the bottom of the heart. The pericardial nerves come from the vagus nerve, the phrenic nerve, and the sympathetic nerve.