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The Pericardium

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Handbook of Cardiac Anatomy, Physiology, and Devices

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Abstract

The pericardium is a unique structure that surrounds the heart and serves several important physiological roles. The removal of the pericardium, certain pericardial disorders, or the buildup of fluids within this space will ultimately alter hemodynamic performance. Recent therapeutic approaches have been directed to exploit the space that exists between the pericardium and the epicardial surface of the heart. New devices and techniques are being developed to access this space with minimally invasive approaches. The pharmacokinetics of many drugs may be greatly enhanced if the drug is delivered into the pericardium. As more is learned about the pericardium, it may play a significant role in cardiac therapies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, 6500 Main Street, Suite 525, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Eric S. Richardson PhD

  2. Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Alexander J. Hill PhD, Nicholas D. Skadsberg PhD & Michael Ujhelyi PharmD, FCCP

  3. University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA

    Yong-Fu Xiao MD, PhD

  4. Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Paul A. Iaizzo PhD

Authors
  1. Eric S. Richardson PhD
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  2. Alexander J. Hill PhD
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  3. Nicholas D. Skadsberg PhD
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  4. Michael Ujhelyi PharmD, FCCP
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  5. Yong-Fu Xiao MD, PhD
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  6. Paul A. Iaizzo PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eric S. Richardson PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. B172 Mayo, MMC 195, University of Minnesota Department of Surgery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Paul A. Iaizzo

1 Electronic Supplementary Material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Video 9.1. The effect of removing the pericardium from an isolated swine heart (MPEG 7,760)

Video 9.2. Movies of both swine and human subjects to show the differences in thoracic anatomy (MPEG 1,509 KB)

JPG 9.1. Posterior portion of the pericardial sac in a swine from which the heart was removed (JPEG 179 kB)

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Richardson, E.S., Hill, A.J., Skadsberg, N.D., Ujhelyi, M., Xiao, YF., Iaizzo, P.A. (2015). The Pericardium. In: Iaizzo, P. (eds) Handbook of Cardiac Anatomy, Physiology, and Devices. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19464-6_9

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