Extracardiac

Extracardiac is an anatomical term used in medicine to describe structures, conditions, or processes located outside the heart. The term is often contrasted with intracardiac, which denotes elements within the heart chambers, valves, or walls. Derived from the Latin extra ("outside") and cardio ("heart"), extracardiac is widely used across radiology, cardiology, surgery, and obstetrics to specify the external location of objects or flows relative to the heart.

In imaging and clinical reporting, extracardiac is used for masses, lesions, or vessels that lie outside the cardiac chambers or pericardium. Examples include extracardiac tumors or mediastinal masses adjacent to the heart, and vascular anomalies that involve vessels near the heart without being inside cardiac structures. The term helps distinguish findings that are external to the heart from those strictly within the heart’s chambers or walls.

In congenital and acquired heart disease, the term also appears when blood flow or conduits are situated outside the heart. An example is the use of extracardiac conduits in some Fontan-type procedures, which route systemic venous blood to the pulmonary arteries without traversing the heart. Similarly, extracardiac shunts refer to abnormal connections that bypass intracardiac routes and are located outside the cardiac chambers.

Because terminology is context dependent, extracardiac may be used alongside related descriptors such as mediastinal, pericardial, or extrathoracic to convey more precise anatomy. The term emphasizes location rather than pathology and is a practical shorthand in reports and discussions of cardiac-adjacent structures. See also intracardiac, mediastinal mass, Fontan procedure.