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The endocardium (pl.: endocardia) is the innermost layer of tissue that lines the chambers of the heart. Its cells are embryologically and biologically similar to the endothelial cells that line blood vessels .
The endocardial cushions are thought to arise from a subset of endothelial cells that undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transition, a process whereby these cells break cell-to-cell contacts and migrate into the cardiac jelly (towards the interior of the heart tube).
The endocardium, by secreting endothelins, may also play a role in regulating the contraction of the myocardium. [8] The swirling pattern of myocardium helps the heart pump effectively. The middle layer of the heart wall is the myocardium, which is the cardiac muscle—a layer of involuntary striated muscle tissue surrounded by a framework of ...
As folding of the embryo in the horizontal plane initiates in the 4th week of gestation, the endocardial tubes meet in the midline to form the primitive heart tube, which will eventually develop into the histologically definitive endocardium.
The anchored and electrically inert collagen framework of the four valves allows normal anatomy to house the atrioventricular node (AV node) in its center. The AV node is the only electrical conduit from the atria to the ventricles through the cardiac skeleton, which is why atrial fibrillation can never degrade into ventricular fibrillation.
The inner endocardium lines the cardiac chambers, covers the cardiac valves, and joins with the endothelium that lines the blood vessels that connect to the heart. On the outer aspect of the myocardium is the epicardium which forms part of the pericardial sac that surrounds, protects, and lubricates the heart.
The openings of the smallest cardiac veins are located in the endocardium. Here the smallest cardiac veins return blood into the heart chambers from the capillary bed in the muscular cardiac wall, enabling a form of collateral circulation unique to the heart. Not every endocardial opening connects to the smallest cardiac veins, as some connect ...
Cardiac anatomy refers to the structure of the heart, ... Endocardium; F. Fold of left vena cava; G. The Giant Heart; H. Heart valve; Heart; I. Infundibulum (heart ...