From these peripheral attachments, muscle fibers converge to join the central tendon. The pericardium is attached to the middle part of the central tendon.
In the median sagittal plane, the diaphragm slopes inferiorly from its anterior attachment to the xiphoid, approximately at vertebral level TVIII/IX, to its posterior attachment to the median arcuate ligament, crossing anteriorly to the aorta at approximately vertebral level TXII.