Pericardial Anatomy for the Interventional Electrophysiologist
ANDRE D'AVILA M.D.,
MAURICIO SCANAVACCA M.D.,
EDUARDO SOSA M.D.,
JEREMY N. RUSKIN M.D.,
VIVEK Y. REDDY M.D.,
ANDRE D'AVILA M.D.
Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, Massachusetts General Hospital–Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; and
Unidade Clinica de Arritmia, Heart Institute (InCor)–University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorMAURICIO SCANAVACCA M.D.
Unidade Clinica de Arritmia, Heart Institute (InCor)–University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorEDUARDO SOSA M.D.
Unidade Clinica de Arritmia, Heart Institute (InCor)–University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorJEREMY N. RUSKIN M.D.
Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, Massachusetts General Hospital–Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; and
Search for more papers by this authorVIVEK Y. REDDY M.D.
Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, Massachusetts General Hospital–Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; and
Search for more papers by this authorANDRE D'AVILA M.D.,
MAURICIO SCANAVACCA M.D.,
EDUARDO SOSA M.D.,
JEREMY N. RUSKIN M.D.,
VIVEK Y. REDDY M.D.,
ANDRE D'AVILA M.D.
Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, Massachusetts General Hospital–Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; and
Unidade Clinica de Arritmia, Heart Institute (InCor)–University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorMAURICIO SCANAVACCA M.D.
Unidade Clinica de Arritmia, Heart Institute (InCor)–University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorEDUARDO SOSA M.D.
Unidade Clinica de Arritmia, Heart Institute (InCor)–University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorJEREMY N. RUSKIN M.D.
Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, Massachusetts General Hospital–Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; and
Search for more papers by this authorVIVEK Y. REDDY M.D.
Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, Massachusetts General Hospital–Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; and
Search for more papers by this authorAddress for correspondence: Vivek Y. Reddy, M.D., Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, GRB 109, Boston, MA 02114. Fax: 617-726-0282; E-mail: [email protected]
This work was supported in part by National Institutes of Health K23 Award HL68064-01A1 to Dr. Reddy.
Manuscript received 31 October 2002; Accepted for publication 4 February 2003.
Abstract
Investigators are beginning to exploit the pericardial space for a number of cardiovascular applications, including catheter ablation of cardiac arrhythmias, cardiovascular drug therapy, and cardiac pacing. This review explores the anatomy of the pericardial space and the anatomic variants that may be encountered in this novel approach to the heart. (J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol, Vol. 14, pp. 422-430, April 2003)
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