Morphohistometric evaluation of the embryological development of the heart in chicks

The aim of this study was to investigate the morphohistometric development of the chick heart at certain incubation periods using quantitative methods.

In the study, the hearts of 24 Babcock White Leghorn chicks, six each from the 10^th, 13^th, 16^th and 21^st days of incubation, were used. The hearts were weighed, and their diameters were measured with a digital caliper. Paraffin blocks of heart tissue were then prepared, and serial sections were taken at 5 μm and 10 μm thickness, stained with Crossmon's triple staining method and photographed under a microscope. The areas of the sections were calculated in an image analysis tool, and the heart volume was calculated using the Cavalieri method.

It was observed that the right atrium wall was thicker than the left atrium wall on the 10^th and 13^th days, and that the left atrium wall became thicker than the right one on the16^th day still was on the 21^st day. The left ventricular wall was thicker than the right one. It was observed that the diameter, wall diameter and lumen area of the aorta increased significantly towards the last day of incubation. The lumen diameter of the aorta increased until the 16^th day but had decreased by the 21^st day.

Besides contributing to existing anatomical knowledge with the presented morphometric data, these findings are expected to form a benchmark for imaging system data used in clinical practice, serve as reference values for clinical sciences and aid physicians in disease diagnosis.