The major structures of a fetal's heart form in four days, identifying the precise time when the four chambers of the heart develop opens up the possibility that doctors could eventually be able to monitor fetal during this critical phase of their development.
The research involved the imaging of fetal hearts with a gestational age range of 95 to 143 days in the womb, looking at how the heart developed 13 to 20 weeks into pregnancy.
The researchers used the magnetic resonance imaging MRI technology, specifically-written algorithms and 3D computer software to visualise the growing heart. They discovered that the most remarkable changes occurred over a four months period 124 days into the pregnancy.
Within this period, the muscle tissue of the heart rapidly organise. Cardiac fibres were laid down to form the helix shape of the heart within which the four chambers of the heart form. Without this essential architecture in place, the fetal heart cannot survive outside the womb.
Some miscarriages are caused by the failure of the heart to form normally,
there was a remarkable consistency around that fact that this phase of the heart's development started 124 days into pregnancy.
Researchers found increased levels of two proteins: connexin 40 and connexin 43.The expression of connexin 40 and connexin 43 helps cells in the heart to communicate with each other. As the amount of these proteins increases, cells can speak to each other more effectively.
Presently, doctors can effectively monitor a fetal heart after 20 weeks into a pregnancy, and by then developmental problems are difficult to resolve, the specialist imaging techniques used by the researchers could be adapted for use in hospital, this will allow doctors to spot whether a fetal heart is developing properly or not.
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