Pluchinotta Francesca Romana, Teot Lisa A, Sanders Stephen P
Department of Cardiology, Children's Hospital Boston Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Pediatr Cardiol. 2012 Oct;33(7):1206-9. doi: 10.1007/s00246-012-0251-6. Epub 2012 Mar 3.
This report presents two fetuses with three rare congenital heart defects: congenital ventricular aneurysm, arcade mitral valve, and unicommissural aortic valve. Because interaction between the endocardium and the myocardium is essential for development of the myocardium and heart valves, the authors hypothesized that these three defects could be related to abnormal signaling between the endocardium and the myocardium during critical phases of cardiac development. This combination of defects might be incompatible with fetal survival to term.