In the human organism, all functions are regulated and, therefore, require a feedback mechanism. This control involves a perception of the spatial tensile state of cardiac tissues. The presence and distribution of respective proprioceptive corpuscles have not been considered so far. Therefore, a comprehensive study of the entire human fibrous pericardium was conducted to describe the presence of proprioceptors, their density, and distribution patterns. Eight human pericardial specimens gained from our body donation program were used to create a three-dimensional map of proprioceptors in the pericardium based on their histological and immunohistochemical identification. The 3D map was generated as a volume-rendered 3D model based on magnetic resonance imaging of the pericardium, to which all identified receptors were mapped. To discover a systematic pattern in receptor distribution, statistical cluster analysis was conducted using the Scikit-learn library in Python. Ruffini-like corpuscles (RLCs) were found in all pericardia and assigned to three histological receptor localizations depending on the fibrous pericardium’s layering, with no other corpuscular proprioceptors identified. Cluster analysis revealed that RLCs exhibit a specific topographical arrangement. The highest receptor concentrations occur at the ventricular bulges, where their size reaches its maximum in terms of diameter, and at the perivascular pericardial turn-up. The findings suggest that the pericardium is subject to proprioceptive control. RLCs record lateral shearing between the pericardial sublayers, and their distribution pattern enables the detection of distinct dilatation of the heart. Therefore, the pericardium might have an undiscovered function as a sensor with the RLCs as its anatomical correlate.

在人类有机体中，所有功能都受到调节，因此需要反馈机制。这种控制涉及对心脏组织空间拉伸状态的感知。到目前为止，尚未考虑相应本体感觉小体的存在和分布。因此，对整个人类纤维心包进行了全面研究，以描述本体感受器的存在、它们的密度和分布模式。从我们的身体捐献计划中获得的 8 个人类心包标本用于根据其组织学和免疫组织化学鉴定创建心包本体感受器的三维图谱。3D 映射是基于心包的磁共振成像生成为体积渲染的 3D 模型，所有已识别的受体都映射到该模型上。为了发现受体分布的系统模式，使用 Python 中的 Scikit-learn 库进行了统计聚类分析。在所有心包中都发现了 Ruffini 样小体 （RLC），并根据纤维心包的分层分为三个组织学受体定位，没有发现其他红细胞本体感受器。聚类分析显示 RLCs 表现出特定的地形排列。最高的受体浓度发生在心室隆起处，在那里它们的大小在直径方面达到最大，以及在血管周围心包上翻。研究结果表明，心包受本体感觉控制。RLC 记录心包亚层之间的横向剪切，它们的分布模式能够检测心脏的不同扩张。 因此，心包可能具有未被发现的传感器功能，而 RLC 是其解剖学关联物。