In vitro Observations on the Function of the Sino-Atrial Node in the Human Fetus, with a Comment on the Fetal Heart Rate throughout Pregnancy

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Right and left atria from the human fetal heart maintained in an organ bath at 38 °C, show an age-dependent decrease in their rate of beating. This activity is temperature dependent, but is not affected by the degree to which the tissue is stretched, or by decreasing the amount of tissue present in the organ bath. It is proposed that the fall in the rate of beating results from cellular changes within the developing myocardium, and that this phenomenon may explain part of the decrease in fetal heart rate which occurs during pregnancy.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: