Comparative anatomy of the foramen ovale in the Suina

Abstract

The structure of the foramen ovale from six species of Suina was studied using the scanning electron microscope. In each species, the foramen ovale, when viewed from the terminal part of the caudal vena cava had the appearance of a short tunnel. In the domestic pig (Sus scrofa), the wart hog (Phacochoerus aethiopicus) and the bush pig (Potamochoerus porcus) a fold of tissue projected from the caudal edge of the foramen ovale into the lumen of the left atrium. It constituted a large proportion of the tube, and its distal end was generally straight-edged. In some domestic pig hearts small holes were found in the fold, and single threads of tissue arose from its trailing edge. These were not found in specimens from the other pigs or from the collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu), which had a thin unfenestrated tissue fold ending in a straight edge. In both species of hippopotamidae, the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) and the pigmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis) the fold of tissue was tubular, with strands of tissue extending from the atrial wall to insert on the outer surface of its proximal half. This tube was orientated at an angle of approximately 90 degrees to the caudal vena cava. Its walls were unfenestrated proximally and fenestrated distally, the latter forming a network over the end of the tube. The knotted appearance of the fold after birth suggested that the strands of the network had shortened and coalesced.