ヒトの肝臓の形態形成についての論文 (Hirose et al) がAnatomical Recordsの Highlights記事で紹介されました.
AR Highlights
Embryonic Liver Morphology and Morphometry by Magnetic Resonance Microscopic Imaging by Ayumi Hirose, Takashi Nakashima, Shigehito Yamada, Chigako Uwabe, Katsumi Kose, and Tetsuya Takakuwa. Anat Rec 295:51–59
The liver plays an important role in the development of organs in the prenatal period. However, morphological and morphometric features of the liver during the early embryonic period are not well understood. Recent advances in medical imaging have enabled earlier assessment of human development in the first trimester. The authors carried out external morphologic and morphometric analysis of the liver during this period using a superparallel magnetic resonance microscope to image embryos obtained from the Kyoto Collection. They determined the external morphology as well as quantitative morphometry of the embryonic liver. They also found that development of the liver was greatly affected by adjacent organs and tissues. The data from this study provide a better understanding of liver development as well as morphogenesis of nearby organs. The authors’ results could also be used as a reference for clinical evaluation in the early stage of gestation, and this could be useful in fetal medicine and prenatal diagnosis. The authors predict that further improvement in imaging modalities will enable more precise detection of the intrahepatic vascular system.