Congenital heart defects are problems of the heart present at birth caused by an abnormal development of this organ, as scientists from the University of East Anglia (United Kingdom) have been able to investigate, could originate in the early stages of pregnancy.
They have observed that the formation of important parts of the heart date back to very early stages of embryonic development. They analyzed chicken eggs in the gastrulation phase, that is, between 12 and 14 hours after fertilization, a development process very similar to that of humans, which occurs in us in the third week of gestation.
They try to identify the primary formation of the cardiac structures, including the outflow tract, since many cardiac malformations present in newborns are associated with problems in this part.
The scientists discovered that some cells light up to create the fields of the anterior and secondary heart after the initial formation of a linear primitive cardiac tube. This method of understanding the correlation between the embryonic origin of the cells and the later stages of development is called "destination mapping".
Identify the origin of congenital heart defects in the early stages of pregnancy I could open the door in the hope of getting a way to prevent them.
