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The fetal circulation is composed of the placenta, umbilical blood vessels encapsulated by the umbilical cord, heart and systemic blood vessels. A major difference between the fetal circulation and postnatal circulation is that the lungs are not used during the fetal stage resulting in the presence of shunts to move oxygenated blood and ...
The first is the foramen ovale (the valve present between them called eustachian valve) which shunts blood from the right atrium to the left atrium. The second is the ductus arteriosus which shunts blood from the pulmonary artery (which, after birth, carries blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs) to the descending aorta.
Ductus arteriosus evolved with the lung in the ancestors of the lungfish as a connection between the pulmonary arteries and dorsal aorta. During embryonic development, reptiles, birds, and mammals all have either one or two paired ductus arteriosi that provide a fetal shunt of blood away from the lungs. [10]
The unpaired umbilical vein carries oxygen and nutrient rich blood derived from fetal-maternal blood exchange at the chorionic villi.More than two-thirds of fetal hepatic circulation is via the main portal vein, while the remainder is shunted from the left portal vein via the ductus venosus to the inferior vena cava, eventually being delivered to the fetal right atrium.
In prenatal development, the eustachian valve helps direct the flow of oxygen-rich blood through the right atrium into the left atrium and away from the right ventricle. . Before birth, the fetal circulation directs oxygen-rich blood returning from the placenta to mix with blood from the hepatic veins in the inferior vena
The umbilical arteries are actually the anterior division of the internal iliac arteries, and retain part of this function after birth. [3] The umbilical arteries are one of two arteries in the human body, that carry deoxygenated blood, the other being the pulmonary arteries. The pressure inside the umbilical artery is approximately 50 mmHg. [4]
The first and second arches disappear early. A remnant of the 1st arch forms part of the maxillary artery, [3] a branch of the external carotid artery. The ventral end of the second develops into the ascending pharyngeal artery, and its dorsal end gives origin to the stapedial artery, [3] a vessel which typically atrophies in humans [4] [5] but persists in some mammals.
The sinus venosus connects to the fetal circulation. The heart tube elongates on the right side, looping and becoming the first visual sign of left-right asymmetry of the body. Septa form within the atria and ventricles to separate the left and right sides of the heart. [3]