Morphometrical Studies on the Exterior of the Heart of Pre-natal Non-descript Sheep

Abstract

Background: Heart is the principal organ of circulatory system that pumps blood into the blood vessels and performs many vital functions. Its development before birth must be studied to safeguard the animal from the occurrence and consequences of various developmental anomalies. The detailed morphometry of different external parameters of heart especially in pre-natal sheep has not yet been reported.Methods: The foeti of sheep were divided into three age groups viz. early prenatal (up to 50 days), mid prenatal (51-100 days) and late prenatal (101 to 150 days) with fifteen animals in each age group. The various external parameters were recorded by using digital weighing machine, graduated measuring cylinder, digital Vernier’s calliper, non-stretchable nylon thread and graduated scale. The data recorded was statistically analysed by one way ANOVA with IBM SPSS 25.0 version software. Result: It was revealed that the average width of heart at its base was 4.82±0.22mm, 10.52±0.72mm and 21.57±1.03mm in early prenatal, mid prenatal and late prenatal stages respectively. The average dorso-ventral length of left ventricle of heart was measured as 4.82±0.14mm, 12.07±1.16mm and 25.58±0.88mm in early prenatal, mid prenatal and late prenatal stages respectively. The average distance between the left longitudinal groove and cranial border of heart at base was measured as 2.93±0.11mm, 6.38±0.39mm and 9.78±0.41mm in early prenatal, mid prenatal and late prenatal stages respectively. Similarly, the average distance between the right longitudinal groove and cranial border of heart at middle was measured as 1.96±0.09mm, 5.01±0.34mm and 8.31±0.50mm in early prenatal, mid prenatal and late prenatal stages respectively. All these parameters recorded showed significant (p ≤ 0.01) differences among the ages.