Embryonic Development in the Lungs

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In this essay I am going to talk about the lungs and the stages of their embryonic development. I chose the lungs because they are one of the most important organs for survival -they supply oxygen to cells and release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. This essay will mostly focus on the different stages of the lung development- the embryonic, the pseudoglandular, the canalicular, the terminal sac, and the postnatal stage.

The successful maturation of the lungs requires the completion of both biochemical and physical processes. The physical one is required for the structure and the biochemical one is required for maintaining such large surface area (surfactant). These two requirements are greatly related and the incomplete development of any of these processes will lead to insufficiency and compromise of the newborn. In the picture below you can see the all the stages summarized:

We know that the human lung starts as a primitive lung bud in the early fetal life and then undergoes many different morphological processes that also continue in the postnatal life. Genetic, hormonal, physical, and environmental factors, as tightly regulated events, together with lung liquid, and fetal breathing movements form a complex that contributes to each stage. The 5 stages of structural lung development occur at progressive times during gestation. The timing of the phases is not exact set since we have disparity between fetuses.
First is the Embryonic Stage (Weeks 4 to 7). This embryonic stage includes the initial formation of the respiratory diverticulum up to the formation of the all the key bronchopulmonary segments. The lung develops as an outgrowth of the ventral wall of the primitive foregut the laryngotracheal groove. Fore...

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... postnatal lung maturation showed a key part in the completion and the formation of an absolute functional lung system.

Works Cited

• Development and growth of the lung, Johannes C. Schittny. Peter Burri , Chapter 5 ( http://www.ana.unibe.ch/~schittny/Reprints/Schittny2008Fishman.pdf )

• Lung Development, Peter Rothstein, chapter 12 (http://www.columbia.edu/itc/hs/medical/humandev/2004/Chpt12-LungDev.pdf)

• Prenatal Lung Development, Gail H, Deutsch, MD and Halit Pinar. Chapter 2 (http://www.bcdecker.com/sampleofchapter/1-55009-133-6.pdf)

• Lung growth and Developmtn, Suchita, Joshi, Sailesh Kotecha, Early human development (2007) (http://prontus.uv.cl/pubacademica/pubasignaturas/medicinav/o/organismohumanoiv/site/artic/20110503/asocfile/lung_growth_and_development.pdf)

• Human Embryology and Developmental Biology, B.Carslon, 2008, 4th edition, chapter 15

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