Expansion
Heart and pericardium, roots of the great vessels, main bronchi, phrenic nerves
Expansion
The middle mediastinum is essentially “the heart and what enters or leaves it”:
- Heart within the pericardium
- Ascending aorta, pulmonary trunk and its bifurcation
- Superior vena cava and the terminal azygos vein
- Tracheal bifurcation and the main bronchi
- Pulmonary arteries and veins
- Phrenic nerves and pericardiacophrenic vessels
- Tracheobronchial lymph nodes
Because the airway divides here, enlarged subcarinal nodes in this compartment are a common finding in bronchial carcinoma and sarcoidosis.