Fetal development of the minor lung segment.
- Author:
Shinichi ABE
1
;
Masahito YAMAMOTO
;
Taku NOGUCHI
;
Toshihito YOSHIMOTO
;
Hideaki KINOSHITA
;
Satoru MATSUNAGA
;
Gen MURAKAMI
;
Jose Francisco RODRIGUEZ-VAZQUEZ
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Lung segment; Right lower lobe; Mediobasal segment; Segmental bronchus VII; Human fetus
- MeSH: Bronchi; Fetal Development*; Fetus; Incidence; Lung*; Mammals; Pulmonary Veins; Veins
- From:Anatomy & Cell Biology 2014;47(1):12-17
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: The mediobasal segment (S7) of the right lung has been considered to correspond to the cardiac lobe generally seen in mammals. To investigate fetal development of the right mediobasal segmental bronchus (B7), we examined paraffin-embedded serial sections of 15 embrynic and fetal lungs at 7-8 weeks (serial sections) as well as semiserial sections of 8 fetuses at 15-18 weeks (semiserial sections). All of the smaller specimens did not contain B7, but 2 of the 8 larger specimens carried B7: one was found in the immediately anterior side of the inferior pulmonary vein, while in the other, the subdivisions (B7a, B7b) were overriding the vein. Although the incidence might be underestimated because of observations using semiserial sections, the B7 was most likely to develop secondarily during a period from 8 to 15 weeks. Fetal topographical changes (mainly, the descent) of the middle lobe and the inferior pulmonary vein might relate with the secondarily budding of B7. The present result does not reduce a clinical relevance of B7 as a segmental bronchus of the lung segment system.
