Pericardium

3D Model

A simple model in sagittal cross section showing the layers of pericardia and their relationships to the developing heart and its arterial outflow and venous inflow. This model is not anatomically correct in terms of the size/shapes of these structures; the goal of this model is to illustrate how the fibrous pericardium and the more complicated serous pericardial layers are arranged in 3D space. These same relationships continue in the adult so the only difference between this model and an adult heart is the shapes of the structures (i.e. the heart is not a perfect sphere, etc). For example, whenever you find a vessel exiting the fibrous pericardium, you will find the serous pericardium reflecting from the visceral surface to the parietal surface. Of critical note, the pericardial cavity is depicted here as wide and spacious; in life, the heart is much larger so that the visceral serous pericardial layer is pressed against the parietal serous pericardial layer, and the cavity becomes a potential space.