Anterior Visceral (middle) Paravertebral (posterior)
Thymus Pericardium/heart Sympathetic chain
Internal thoracic vessels Great vessels Proximal intercostal nerve, artery, and vein
Internal thoracic lymph nodes Trachea Posterior paraesophageal lymph nodes
Fat and connective tissue Proximal right and left mainstem bronchi Intercostal lymph nodes
  Esophagus  
Phrenic nerve
Thoracic duct
Proximal azygos vein
lymph nodes
Fat and connective tissue
Table 2: Components of mediastinal compartments as proposed by Shields [4,5].