Abstract
Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the physiological control of the fetal cardiovascular system. A remarkable feature of the fetal cardiovascular system is the high level of pumping performance of the immature fetal heart. This can be illustrated by comparing average values of ventricular outputs measured in fetal, newborn, and adult life. Before birth, both the left and right ventricles contribute to fetal systemic flow parallely, and the sum of the two outputs is commonly used to represent cardiac output. During fetal life, functional baroreceptors have been demonstrated by measurements of phasic electrical activity in baroreceptor afferent nerves. This activity is synchronous with the arterial pulse. At 0.6 gestation in the fetal lamb, elevations and small reductions of arterial pressure cause the heart rate to change in the opposite direction, signifying that a functional baroreflex control of the heart rate exists at this early state of development.
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