anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

, the precordium or praecordium is the portion of the body over the

heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

and lower chest.Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary's entry for ''Precordium''
Cited 2 Dec 2009 (UTC) Defined anatomically, it is the area of the anterior chest wall over the

. It is therefore usually on the left side, except in conditions like dextrocardia, where the individual's heart is on the right side. In such a case, the precordium is on the right side as well. The precordium is naturally a cardiac area of dullness. During examination of the chest, the percussion note will therefore be dull. In fact, this area only gives a resonant percussion note in

hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real versus nominal value (economics), real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimiz ...

, emphysema or tension pneumothorax. Precordial chest pain can be an indication of a variety of illnesses, including costochondritis and viral pericarditis.

References

Anatomy {{Anatomy-stub

See also

References