Lee Rannals for
redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
The
walls of the human heart develop slower than other mammals, according to a new
study published in Journal of the Royal Society Interface Focus.
Researchers
developed the first comprehensive model of human heart development using observations
of living fetal hearts. Human hearts have walls that are a disorganized jumble
of tissue until late in pregnancy, despite having the shape of a fully
functioning heart.
During
the study, they saw four clearly defined chambers in the fetal heart from the
eighth week of pregnancy and they did not find organized muscle tissue until
the 20th week.
Developing
a simulation of the fetal heart is critical in helping researchers understand
normal heart development in the womb. This simulation could eventually open up
new ways of detecting and dealing with some functional abnormalities in early
pregnancies.
The
researchers used scans of healthy fetuses in the womb for the study, including
a mother who volunteered to have detailed weekly electrocardiography scans
from 18 weeks until just before delivery.
Data
gathered during the research was used for a 3D computerized model built up
using information about the structure, shape and size of the different
components of the heart from two types of MRI scans of dead fetuses’ hearts.
Results
from the study show the human heart may develop on different timeline from
other mammals. While the tissue in the walls of a pig heart develops a highly
organized structure compared to the early stage of a fetus’ development, the
scientists say there is little organization of the human heart’s cells until 20
weeks into pregnancy.
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