Chamber formation and morphogenesis in the heart of goat embryos

Abstract

To know the partitioning of atria and ventricles and to record the sequential events in development of heart at different stages of prenatal life, 12 goat embryos were collected from slaughterhouses of Mathura (Uttar Pradesh). The primitive tubular heart consisting of four cardiac chambers, converted into five cardiac chambers on 26 days goat embryos. At early stages of gestation, the lumen was comprised of endocardial cushions and A-V canal between the atrium and ventricle of tubular heart. The fusion of these endocardial cushions took place and they divided the A-V canal into right and left atrioventricular orifices (A-V canal) at 38 days embryos. At 23 to 38 days goat embryos, the common atrium was divided into right and left compartments by formation of septum primum and septum secundum. The ventricular septum grew as a crescentric plate, extended towards the endocardial cushions forming interventricular septum at 38 days embryos. The study concluded that the partitioning of tubular heart starts at 23 days embryos and formation of completely separated four chambered heart took place at 38 days embryos except for foramen ovale, which persists till birth.