Congenital midline cervical cleft is a rare anomaly of the anterior neck. The diagnosis is typically made on the basis of the lesion's characteristic clinical presentation at birth. It appears to occur as a result of a failure of fusion of the paired second branchial arches in the midline during embryogenesis. Surgical intervention is necessary to avoid potential long-term complications, such a...

UNLABELLED The branchial arches are the embryological precursors of the face, neck and pharynx. Anomalies of the branchial arches are the second most common congenital lesions of the head and neck in children, with second branchial arch anomalies by far the most common. Clinically, these congenital anomalies may present as cysts, sinus tracts, fistulae or cartilaginous remnants with typical cli...

Diagnosis and differentiation of branchial cleft anomalies rest on higher imaging modalities such as computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, anatomical knowledge and meticulous characterization of anomaly on high resolution ultrasonography (HRUS) can clinch the diagnosis in most cases. Anomalies of the second branchial cleft account for 90% of the developmental ab...

This study identified the cellular compositions of gills in molly fish and their role immunity using light-, electron- microscopy, immunohistochemistry. The consisted four holobranchs spaced between five branchial slits. Each hemibranch carried many fine primary secondary gill lamellae. arch was a curved cartilaginous structure, from which radiated bony supports contained afferent efferent brac...

BACKGROUND In vertebrates, the skeletal elements of the jaw, together with the connective tissues and tendons, originate from neural crest cells, while the associated muscles derive mainly from cranial mesoderm. Previous studies have shown that neural crest cells migrate in close association with cranial mesoderm and then circumscribe but do not penetrate the core of muscle precursor cells of t...

Platelet-derived growth factors (PDGF) regulate cell proliferation, survival, morphology, and migration, as well as deposition and turnover of the extracellular matrix. Important roles for the A form of PDGF (PDGF-A) during connective tissue morphogenesis have been highlighted by the murine Patch mutation, which includes a deletion of the alpha subunit of the PDGF receptor. Homozygous (Ph/Ph) e...

Ammocoetes of the anadromous sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus L. spend many years in freshwater before metamorphosing and migrating to sea. Metamorphosis involves the radical transformation from a substrate-dwelling, filter feeder into a free-swimming, parasitic feeder. In the present work we examined osmoregulatory differences between ammocoetes and transformers (metamorphic juveniles), and the ...