File:Thyroid-development-cartoon.jpg

Cartoon showing the development of thyroid gland

• The thyroid gland begins to develop as a median thickening of endoderm on the floor of the pharynx between the first and second pharyngeal pouches.
• This area later invaginates to form the median diverticulum, which appears in the later half of the fourth week.
• This thyroid diverticulum grows further, becoming a solid cellular cord called the thyroglossal duct.
• The duct grows caudally and bifurcates to give rise to the thyroid lobes and the isthmus.

Original file name: Figure 4 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2827060/figure/F4/

Reference

<pubmed>20181171</pubmed>| PMC2827060

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