Topic 6 - Embryology Flashcards
Lectures 18,19,26 & 27
What is Embryology?
The branch of biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes, fertilization, and development of embryos and fetuses.
Why is embryology important to us?
- Logical framework for adult anatomy
- Better understanding of pathology
- Anatomical variations
- Congenital malformations/anomalies and pathologies
Where do the gonads originate?
Posterior abdominal wall, they descend during development. In males -> scrotum. In females -> abdomen.
How do horseshoe kidneys occur?
The kidneys can fuse as they travel down during development.
What are the aspects of a human adult?
Anterior - front
Posterior - back
Superior - top
Interior - bottom
What are the aspects of a human embryo?
Ventral - front
Dorsal - back
Cranial - top
Caudal - bottom
What is a ‘lateral’ section?
Horizontal across the abdomen.
What is a ‘sagittal’ section?
Vertical down the middle from the front.
What is a ‘coronal’ section?
Vertical down the middle from the side.
What is a ‘menstrual age’?
Dates the pregnancy from the womans last menstrual period.
Full gestation 40 weeks.
Three equal trimesters.
Who is menstrual age used by?
Clinicians
What is a ‘fertilisation’ age?
Dated from exactly when the sperm fertilized the egg.
Full gestation 38 weeks.
Who uses fertilisation age?
Embryologists
What are the three periods of fertilisation age?
- Early Development
- Embryonic (organogenesis)
- Foetal
What happens in the foetal period of fertilisation age?
Growth and maturation of all the organs fromed in the embryonic period.
How are birth defects caused?
Genetics (meiosis and mitosis)
Environment (teratogens)
What can be the genetic causes for birth defects?
- Monogenic (defective gene on autosome)
- Chromosomal (numerical/structural)
What is Trisomy 21 and what does it cause?
Down’s Syndrome.
- growth retardation
- intellectual retardation
- craniofacial abnormalities
- congenital heart defects
What are the types of teratogens?
- Infectious (taxoplasmosis, rubella, hep B, herpes, cytomegalovirus, syphylis)
- Chemical (alcohol, thalidomide)
- Physical (radiation)
- Maternal disease (diabetes)
- Deficiency (folic acid)
When is the fetus most sensitive to terotogens?
During the embryonic period - around 5 weeks of gestation, as it is developing its organs. First prenatal visit tends to fall around 8 weeks.
How do infectious teratogens get to the embryo?
The diseases cross the placenta.
What are the infectious teratogens?
TORCH
- Toxoplosmosis
- Other (syphilis, hepatitis B)
- Rubella
- Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
- Herpes simplex virus (HSV)
What is toxoplasmosis?
A parasite usually contracted by the mother through raw meat/cat faeces during early pregnancy (organogenesis). Asymptomatic in adults.
What birth defects can toxoplasmosis cause in early pregnancy?
- inflammation of the retina and eye (micropthalmia)
- hearing loss
- enlarger liver/spleen
- hydrocephaly
- microcephaly
What is hydrocephaly?
Accumulation of fluid at the top of the head.
What is microcephaly?
A condition where the head circumference is smaller than normal.
What symptoms does Rubella cause as a birth defect?
-Cloudy cornea
-Intellectual disability
-Microcephaly
-Heart defects
Infection passes through placenta in the first 3 months of pregnancy
What is Cytomegalovirus?
Crosses the placenta, infection vie body fluids, usually symptomatic.
What does cytomegalovirus cause as a birth defect?
- Micropthalmia (inflammation of retina)
- Enlarged spleen/liver
- Mineral deposits on the brain
- Microcephaly
- Psychomotor retardation
What is the Varicella Zoster virus?
Chicken Pox
When is chickenpox most dangerous?
13-20 weeks of development or just before birth to 2 days postpartum.
What does chickenpox cause as a birth defect?
- Segmental skinloss/scarring
- Limb hypoplasia/paresis
- Microcephaly
- Visual defects
What is hypoplasia?
Underdevelopment or incomplete development of an organ
What is paresis?
A condition of muscular weakness caused by nerve damage or disease
What does the Zika virus cause as a birth defect?
- Microcephaly
- Severe cognitive disabilities
What is thalidomide?
Drug prescribed for morning sickness in the 1950s. Caused birth defects such as shortened or absent limbs. In some places now used to treat Leprosy and HIV.
What is Foetal Alcohol Syndrome associated with?
- Prenatal and postnatal growth retardation
- Intellectual disability
- Impaired motor ability and coordination
When is a fetus most sensitive to radiation?
First trimester
What can radiation cause as a birth defect?
- Microcephaly
- Mental and cognitive disabilities
- Haemopoietic malignancies and laukemia