title: Fetal development of the minor lung segment.
abstract: The mediobasal segment (S7) of the right lung has been considered to correspond to the cardiac lobe generally seen in mammals. To investigate fetal development of the right mediobasal segmental bronchus (B7), we examined paraffin-embedded serial sections of 15 embrynic and fetal lungs at 7-8 weeks (serial sections) as well as semiserial sections of 8 fetuses at 15-18 weeks (semiserial sections). All of the smaller specimens did not contain B7, but 2 of the 8 larger specimens carried B7: one was found in the immediately anterior side of the inferior pulmonary vein, while in the other, the subdivisions (B7a, B7b) were overriding the vein. Although the incidence might be underestimated because of observations using semiserial sections, the B7 was most likely to develop secondarily during a period from 8 to 15 weeks. Fetal topographical changes (mainly, the descent) of the middle lobe and the inferior pulmonary vein might relate with the secondarily budding of B7. The present result does not reduce a clinical relevance of B7 as a segmental bronchus of the lung segment system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Tokyo Dental College, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Tokyo Dental College, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Tokyo Dental College, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Taku
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Noguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Tokyo Dental College, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshihito
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Tokyo Dental College, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Tokyo Dental College, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsunaga
authors.affiliation: Division of Internal Medicine, Iwamizawa Kojin-kai Hospital, Iwamizawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Gen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Embryology II, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Jose Francisco
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Vázquez
keywords: Human fetus; Lung segment; Mediobasal segment; Right lower lobe; Segmental bronchus VII