Endocardial tubes

<p>The endocardial tubes are paired regions in the <a href="/facts/Embryo/9QHnLVLN">embryo</a> that appear in its ventral pole by the middle of the third week of gestation and consist of precursor cells for the development of the <a href="/facts/Embryonic_heart/wL9UQjsb">embryonic heart</a>. The endocardial heart tubes derive from the <a href="/facts/Lateral_plate_mesoderm/6p6NkUuW">visceral mesoderm</a> and initially are formed by a confluence of <a href="/facts/Angioblast/qYhPKGUS">angioblastic</a> blood vessels on either side of the embryonic midline. The endocardial tubes have an intimate proximity to the foregut or pharyngeal <a href="/facts/Endoderm/6UhPjVnt">endoderm</a>.
</p><p>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 <a href="/facts/Primitive_heart_tube/CxLXM38p">primitive heart tube</a>, which will eventually develop into the histologically definitive <a href="/facts/Endocardium/d2fBPIGn">endocardium</a>. The <a href="/facts/Myocardium/oMqU4Sdu">myocardium</a> forms from mesoderm cells surrounding the heart tube, while the <a href="/facts/Epicardium/ePd4gkeT">epicardium</a> develops from other cells, most likely from <a href="/facts/Neural_crest/SgvAz0Ww">neural crest</a> cells.
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Endocardial tubes open-in-new

Endocardial tubes