Thoracic Key

Introduction The placenta is one of the most important and least understood organs in the human body. It is a complex, highly organized structure that—amazingly—can be grown, discarded, and fully…

Introduction The heart is the first organ to become fully functional in the developing embryo, providing the circulatory system necessary for embryogenesis and subsequent fetal development when growth cannot be…

Key WordsFetal echocardiography, Doppler, color Doppler   Introduction Malformation of the heart and arterial trunks is the most common form of congenital anomaly found in humans. They occur in approximately…

Introduction As fetal echocardiography has advanced over the past several decades, our understanding of the natural history of congenital heart disease in utero has progressed. For select lesions that evolve…

Introduction From the functional point of view, the heart is simply a specialized part of the vascular system. Nonetheless, development of the heart as a specialized pump is of great…

Introduction The ability to accurately measure blood flow and oxygen saturations across the human late-gestation fetal circulation offered by advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has provided new insights into…

A functional myocardium is necessary for viability during embryonic and fetal development. As such, the heart is the first functional organ because its ability to distribute essential nutrients to the…

Introduction It is axiomatic that to understand abnormal anatomy, and to describe it adequately, it is necessary first to understand the normal arrangement, including the relationships of the conduction tissues…

Introduction With the arrival of echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), providing the means of noninvasively detecting and monitoring anomalies occurring during pregnancy, the fetus has increasingly become the target…