Cardiac Development

1. An Overview of Cardiac Morphogenesis: Getting from a Muscle-Covered Tube to a Four-Chambered Pump
2. Vascular Development
3. Cardiogenic Fields and Heart Tube Formation
4. Induction and Differentiation of the Myocardium
5. Functional Developmental Biology of the Myocardium
6. Development of the Poles of the Heart
7. Molecular Control of Looping
8. Chamber Specification and Ventricular Septation
9. Endocardium, Cardiac Cushions, and Valve Development
10. Epicardium and Coronary Vessel Development
11. Neural Crest, Great Arteries, and Outflow Septation
12. Development of the Cardiac Pacemaking and Conduction System
13. Innervation of the Developing Heart
14. Evolutionary Developmental Biology of the Heart
15. Some New Insights into the Embryogenesis of Heart Malformations in the Context of Syndromes
16. Myocardial Stem Cells

This is the only in-depth, single author survey of heart development. It will provide a more systematic, up-to-date synthesis of the subject than any other volume, spanning the range from classical anatomical studies to recent findings in molecular biology. It also covers topics that are often omitted from discussions of heart development, such as myocardial function, cardiac innervation, and conduction development and clinical correlates will be discussed throughout. The book is beautifully illustrated by Karen Waldo, an artist who has collaborated with Dr. Kirby for many years.