The overall scope of this new series will be to evolve an understanding of the genetic basis of (1) how early mesoderm commits to cells of a heart lineage that progres sively and irreversibly assemble into a segmented, primary heart tube that can be remodeled into a four-chambered organ, and (2) how blood vessels are derived and assembled both in the heart and in the body. Our central aim is to establish a four-dimensional, spatiotemporal foundation for the heart and blood vessels that can be genetically dissected for function and mechanism. Since Robert DeHaan's seminal chapter "Morphogenesis of the Vertebrate Heart" published in Organogenesis (Holt Rinehart & Winston, NY) in 1965, there have been surprisingly few books devoted to the subject of cardiovascular morpho genesis, despite the enormous growth of interest that occurred nationally and internationally. Most writings on the subject have been scholarly compilations of the proceedings of major national or international symposia or muItiauthored volumes, often without a specific theme. What is missing are the unifying concepts that can make sense out of a burgeoning database of facts. The Editorial Board of this new series believes the time has come for a book series dedicated to cardiovas cular morphogenesis that will serve not only as an important archival and didactic reference source for those who have recently come into the field but also as a guide to the evolution of a field that is clearly coming of age.

Inhalt

1. Morphoregulatory Mechanisms Underlying Early Heart Development: Precardiac Stages to the Looping, Tubular Heart.- 2. Formation and Septation of the Tubular Heart: Integrating the Dynamics of Morphology with Emerging Molecular Concepts.- 3. Straight Tube Heart. Primitive Cardiac Cavities vs. Primitive Cardiac Segments.- 4. Torsion and Looping of the Cardiac Tube and Primitive Cardiac Segments. Anatomical Manifestations.- 5. Embryological Development of the Apical Trabeculated Region of Both Ventricles. The Contribution of the Primitive Interventricular Septum in the Ventricular Septation.- 6. Embryological Development of the Ventricular Inlets. Septation and Atrioventricular Valve Apparatus.- 7. Embryological Development of the Outlet of Each Ventricle.- 8. Embryological Development of the Atria. Septation and Visceroatrial Situs.- 9. Development of the Great Arteries.- 10. Primitive Cardiac Segment, Normal Heart and Congenital Heart Diseases.