title: Weight of the left and right ventricle of the heart during fetal life.
abstract: The hearts from 31 fetuses aged from 12 to 40 weeks' gestation were dissected after fixation. The right ventricle and the left ventricle plus septum were weighed separately and a ratio was established. The total and separate ventricular weights increase steadily with age and at a similar rate. Throughout fetal life the left ventricle plus septum is larger than the right ventricle, but the right ventricle forms a greater proportion of the total ventricular weight than it does in the child or the adult.For the first time, a table of normal fetal heart weights and ratios obtained using the method of Fulton, Hutchinson, and Jones (1952) is presented.
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005318:Fetal Heart / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005865:Gestational Age; D006346:Heart Septum / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D009929:Organ Size; D011247:Pregnancy