Selected views of early heart development by scanning electron microscopy.
This tutorial on cardiac development is designed to acquaint the novice student of embryology with the key events that occur during cardiogenesis. Each of the following events is depicted through a series of scanning electron micrographs which convey the spatial relationships between minute, yet essential structures: fusion of paired heart tubes; looping; partitioning of the common atrium, the atrioventricular canal, the primitive ventricle and the outflow tract. The cellular and biochemical mechanisms responsible for these events cannot be adequately determined nor illustrated by SEM and therefore will not be considered in detail herein.
D000818:Animals; D002642:Chick Embryo; D006321:Heart / Q000196:embryology*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning