Changes in cardiac size and shape should impose stresses on the surrounding lung and chest wall. To examine pressure-volume relationships of the cardiac fossa we measured pressures required to increase the pericardial volume of freshly killed dogs at different levels of lung inflation, first by expanding the pericardium uniformly and then by expanding only the left ventricle. In both cases we obtained linear pressure-volume relationships, the slopes of which expressed an apparent compliance. Compliance decreased as lung volumes were increased by raising end-expiratory pressure, and compliance with symmetrical pericardial filling exceeded that with asymmetrical (left ventricular) distension. These compliances were compared with the total respiratory system compliance measured during tidal ventilation, and we found that the compliance of the cardiac fossa was significantly less than would be predicted from lung and chest wall compliances as classically measured. We concluded that the respiratory system imposes a finite compliance load on cardiac filling that raises local epicardial pressure above ambient pleural pressure. This respiratory system load depends upon lung volume and the cardiac shape change.