Cardiovascular System - Heart Development

Introduction

These notes introduce the development of the heart which begins very early in mesoderm within the trilaminar embryonic disc. The heart forms initially in the embryonic disc as a simple paired tube inside the forming pericardial cavity, which when the disc folds, gets carried into the correct anatomical position in the chest cavity.

A key aspect of heart development is the septation of the heart into separate chambers. As the embryonic/fetal circulation is different to the neonatal circulation (lung/pulmonary activation), several defects of heart septation may only become apparent on this transition. One septal "defect" occurs in us all, the foramen ovale (between the 2 atria) which in general closes in the neonate over time.

Embryonic Heart Rate (EHR), early in development the heart starts to spontaneously beat and a recent study by Wisser and Dirschedl in dated human embryos showed an increase up to 63 postmenstrual days or 22 mm greatest length. Thereafter a steady decrease of EHR was noted. Maximal EHR is reached when morphological development of the embryonic heart is completed.

Textbooks

Human Embryology (2nd ed.) Larson Ch7 p151-188 Heart
The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology (6th ed.) Moore and Persaud Ch14: p304-349
Before we Are Born (5th ed.) Moore and Persaud Ch12; p241-254
Essentials of Human Embryology Larson Ch7 p97-122 Heart
Human Embryology Fitzgerald and Fitzgerald Ch13-17: p77-111

Human Development Timecourse

Cardiogenic region - in splanchnic mesenchyme of prechordal plate region
Week 2 pair of thin-walled tubes
Week 3 tubes fused, truncus arteriosus outflow, heart contracting
Week 4 heart tube continues to elongate, curving to form S shape
Week 5 Septation starts, atrial and ventricular
Septation continues, atrial septa remains open, foramen ovale
Week 40 At birth pressure difference closes foramen ovale leaving a fossa ovalis

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Cite this page: Hill, M.A. (2024, May 17) Embryology Cardiovascular System - Heart Development. Retrieved from https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/Cardiovascular_System_-_Heart_Development

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