Cardiac Development, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2002 Progress in Experimental Cardiology Series, Vol. 4

The importance of the developmental approach for experimental and clinical cardiology is indisputable. Clinical-epidemiological studies have clearly shown that the risk factors of serious cardiovascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis and ischemic heart disease, are already present during the early phases of ontogenetic development. Furthermore, congenital cardiovascular malformations remain the single largest cause of infant mortality from congenital defects in industrial countries. It is therefore not surprising that the interest of theoretical and clinical cardiologists in the developmental approach keeps increasing. Advances in molecular biology accelerated this trend substantially. This book is based on contributions presented at the international symposium The Developing Heart in Prague in May 2000. It is our contention that the biological, electrophysiological, morphological, functional, biochemical and functional approaches employed by distinguished scientists worldwide will provide the reader with a global picture for changes characterizing the developing heart. It should stimulate the curiosity of cardiovascular scientists in gaining insight into the mechanisms of normal and pathological development.

1. Comparative Genetics of Heart Development: Conserved Cardiogenic Factors in Drosophila and Vertebrates.- 2. Microvascular Bed in Mammalian Hearts from Birth to Death of the Organism.- 3. Expression of Angiopoietins (-1 and -2) in Embryonic Rat Hearts during Coronary Vessel Development.- 4. The Development of the Ventricular Conduction System: Transgenic Insights.- 5. Cell Interactions with Extracellular Matrix during Perinatal Development of Myocardium.- 6. A Disintegrin and Metalloprotease (ADAMs) Family: Expression and Potential Roles in the Developing Heart.- 7. Cardiac Fibrosis during the Development of Heart Failure: New Insights into Smad Involvement.- 8. Developmental Changes in Calcium Channel Localization in Rat Heart: Influence of Thyroid Hormone and Pressure Overload.- 9. T-Type and L-Type Calcium Currents Modulate Force in Embryonic Chick Myocardium.- 10. Developmental Changes in Regulation of Cardiac Contractile Function.- 11. Developmental Changes of Sarcoplasmic Reticular Calcium Ion Transport and Phospholamban in Rat Heart.- 12. Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Function in the Developing Heart.- 13. Differences in Calcium Handling and Regulatory Mechanisms Between Neonatal and Adult Hearts.- 14. Metabolic Differences Between Pediatric and Adult Hearts: Implications for Cardiac Surgery.- 15. Molecular Phenotype of the Developing Heart with a Congenital Anomaly.- 16. Human Hibernating Myocardium-Development to Degeneration.- 17. Protection of the Developing Heart against Oxygen Deprivation.- 18. Molecular and Pharmacological Aspects of the Developing Heart.- 19. Increased Consumption of Vitamin A in the Heart Under Oxidative Stress.