pericardium

American  

[per-i-kahr-dee-uhm] / ˌpɛr ɪˈkɑr di əm /

noun

Anatomy.

plural

pericardia

1. the membranous sac enclosing the heart.

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pericardium British  

/ ˌpɛrɪˈkɑːdɪəm /

noun

1. the membranous sac enclosing the heart

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pericardium Scientific  

/ pĕr′ĭ-kär′dē-əm /

plural

pericardia

1. The membrane sac that encloses the heart in vertebrate animals.

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Other Word Forms

• pericardial adjective

Etymology

Origin of pericardium

1570–80; < New Latin < Greek perikárdion, noun use of neuter of perikárdios surrounding the heart, equivalent to peri- peri- + kardios, adj. derivative of kardía heart; -cardium

Compare meaning

How does pericardium compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• epicardium vs. pericardium

Example Sentences

The surgery involved removing the pericardium, the statement said.

From Seattle Times

An ultrasound of the heart showed that he had some fluid in the sac called the pericardium, which contains and protects the heart, but not enough to interfere with how well it was beating.

From New York Times

He said to the microphone, “There are three lacerations in the pericardium, which is filled with clotted and liquefied blood.”

From Literature

Told through 11 pivotal operations, it's a tale of ingenuity, from Henry Dalton, who in 1891 became the first US surgeon to suture a pericardium, to artificial aortic valves implanted by robots.

From Nature

Rather than use an entire valve cut from a dead heart, as Andersen had, Cribier built one from bovine pericardium, mounted in a collapsible stainless-steel stent.

From The Guardian