Mediastinum
central compartment of the thoracic cavity that separates the lungs
The mediastinum (from Medieval Latin: mediastinus, lit. 'midway';pl.: mediastina) is the central compartment of the thoracic cavity. Surrounded by loose connective tissue, it is a region that contains vital organs and structures within the thorax, mainly the heart and its vessels, the esophagus, the trachea, the vagus, phrenic and cardiac nerves, the thoracic duct, the thymus and the lymph nodes of the central chest.
Anatomy
The mediastinum lies within the thorax and is enclosed on the right and left by pleurae. It is surrounded by the chest wall in front, the lungs to the sides and the spine at the back. It extends from the sternum in front to the vertebral column behind. It contains all the organs of the thorax except the lungs. It is continuous with the loose connective tissue of the neck.
The mediastinum can be divided into an upper (or superior) and lower (or inferior) part:
The superior mediastinum starts at the superior thoracic aperture and ends at the thoracic plane.
The inferior mediastinum from this level to the diaphragm. 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.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q337247. The Library of Congress control number is sh85082838. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Mediastinum” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.