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Mediastinum

The mediastinum (from Medieval Latin: mediastinus, lit. 'midway';[2]pl.: mediastina) is the central compartment of the thoracic cavity. Surrounded by loose connective tissue, it is an undelineated region that contains a group of structures within the thorax, namely the heart and its vessels, the esophagus, the trachea, the phrenic and cardiac nerves, the thoracic duct, the thymus and the lymph nodes of the central chest.

Not to be confused with Mediastinum testis.

Mediastinum

mediastinum[1]

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The superior mediastinum starts at the and ends at the thoracic plane.

superior thoracic aperture

The inferior mediastinum from this level to the . This lower part is subdivided into three regions, all relative to the pericardium – the anterior mediastinum being in front of the pericardium, the middle mediastinum contains the pericardium and its contents, and the posterior mediastinum being behind the pericardium.[6]

diaphragm

Widened mediastinum

Mediastinal widening

Anterior mediastinum: substernal goiters, lymphoma, thymoma, and teratoma.

thyroid

Middle mediastinum: lymphadenopathy, metastatic disease such as from small cell carcinoma from the lung.

Posterior mediastinum: Neurogenic tumors, either from the nerve sheath (mostly benign) or elsewhere (mostly malignant).

(unrelated structure in the scrotum)

Mediastinum testis

Mediastinal germ cell tumor

Mediastinitis

Mediastinal tumor

List of anatomy mnemonics#Mediastinum

at Human Anatomy Online, SUNY Downstate Medical Center – "Divisions of the mediastinum."

Anatomy figure: 21:01-03

at Human Anatomy Online, SUNY Downstate Medical Center – "The anatomical divisions of the inferior mediastinum."

Anatomy figure: 21:02-03

at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) – "Subdivisions of the Thoracic Cavity"

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