Aortic hiatus
Hiatus aorticus
Definition
The aortic hiatus is one of the three openings in the diaphragm.
Elliptical and very oblique, it allows the path of the aorta but also the azygos and hemiazygos veins and the thoracic duct. Directly in touch with the spinal column, near the last thoracic vertebrae, it is slightly located on the left of the median plane between the left crus and the right crus.
References
Barone R. Anatomie comparée des mammifères domestiques, Tome 2, Arthrologie et myologie, 4th edition, Vigot, Paris, 2017.
Sisson S, Grossman JD. The anatomy of the domestic animals. 5th ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; 1975.
Evans HE, de Lahunta A. Miller’s anatomy of the dog, 4th edition, Elsevier Saunders, St Louis, 2012.
