Abstract
This paper describes omphalocephaly in chick embryos surviving a mechanical insult in ovo. Under direct visualization, a portion of the right side of the endoderm/mesoderm layer of primitive-streak to early head-fold stage embryos was incised with a needle advanced through the yolk into the sub-blastodermal space. The 7-10 incisions were less than .05 mm in diameter. Among the 623 blastoderms re-incubated at 37°C, six omphalocephalic embryos survived to a total of 5-6 days incubation. In these embryos, most of the foregut endoderm had failed to converge at the anterior intestinal portal. As a result, the foregut was shortened and the liver and lung diverticulae failed to develop or were abnormal because the endodermal anlagen had not converged nor met the corresponding organ-specific mesenchyme. The brain assumed its normal curvature, so that the prosencephalon and flanking paraxial mesoderm had herniated ventrally, covered with endodermal rather than ectodermal epithelium. The heart was abnormally positioned cephalic to the head; chambers, curvature and circulation were normal. Embryos sacrificed less than 24 hours after the procedure had developmental delay in formation of the gut in relation to the head fold. Although no counterpart of this syndrome has been described in humans, the study of omphalocephaly in chick embryos is helpful in highlighting the importance of normal sequence in differentiation of embryonic germ layers.
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Rosenquist, G. OMPHALOCEPHALY IN CHICK EMBRYOS AS A RESULT OF DELAY IN FROMATION OF THE ANTERIOR INTESTINAL PORTAL. Pediatr Res 18 (Suppl 4), 307 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-01287
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-01287