A pictorial account of the human embryonic heart between 3.5 and 8 weeks of development

Heart development is topographically complex and requires visualization to understand its progression. No comprehensive three-dimensional primer of human cardiac development was available. We, therefore, prepared detailed reconstructions of 12 hearts between 3.5 and 8 weeks post fertilization.
Published in Healthcare & Nursing
A pictorial account of the human embryonic heart between 3.5 and 8 weeks of development
Like

We describe the developmental appearance of the heart and subsequent remodeling of 70 different structures incrementally, using sequential segmental analysis. 

Pictorial timelines of structures highlight age-dependent events, while graphs visualize growth and spiraling of the wall of the heart tube. The basic cardiac layout is established between 3.5 and 4.5 weeks. Septation at the venous pole is completed at 6 weeks. Between 5.5 and 6.5 weeks, as the outflow tract becomes incorporated in the ventricles, the spiraling course of its subaortic and subpulmonary channels is transferred to the intrapericardial arterial trunks. The remodeling of the interventricular foramen is complete at 7 weeks.

Three-dimensional Heart Development Figure: Three-dimensional overview of human cardiac development. 

The reader is encouraged simultaneously to read the text and inspect the corresponding interactive PDFs of human cardiac development between CS9 and CS23 (3.5-8 weeks of development). This is because their rotational options (“live” images) allow a much better understanding of the complex local topography than do “still” images and text.

Click on this link  for instruction 'how to use such an interactive 3D-PDF'. Please download PDF-file first and open with Adobe Reader.

An example of our 4.5 week model can directly be viewed via this hyperlink, while all other stages are enclosed in our Supplemental Information file.

Please sign in or register for FREE

If you are a registered user on Research Communities by Springer Nature, please sign in

Subscribe to the Topic

Health Care
Life Sciences > Health Sciences > Health Care

Related Collections

With collections, you can get published faster and increase your visibility.

Biology of reproduction

For this Collection, we encourage submissions that push forward our understanding of reproduction and its impact on offspring in both model organisms and human studies.

Publishing Model: Open Access

Deadline: Apr 10, 2024

Cell-cell communication

This Collection welcomes submissions that contribute to our understanding of cell-cell communication in multicellular organisms.

Publishing Model: Open Access

Deadline: Apr 25, 2024