A Short Overview on Human Prenatal Cardiogenesis

The heart is the first organ to form and function during embryonic development and is sculpted by a precisely orchestrated developmental program resulting from the complex interaction of genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors (e.g., hemodynamics, metabolism). It undergoes simultaneously structural and functional maturation while it transforms, in a dynamic and complex process, from a straight tube to a four-chambered heart within the first 8–9 weeks in human pregnancy. It is during this relative short period of time, especially within the early and critical phases of heart formation, such as cardiac looping, where even minor negative factors can have an impact on the embryonic heart in a way that development is disrupted early on and may result in various forms of heart defects, including complex congenital heart defects (CHDs).