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. 2013 Aug 26;8(8):e72795. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072795

Figure 3. Fractional anisotropy (FA) in the developing heart.

Figure 3

(A) FA maps of the left ventricle in its short axis are shown of a 10-week, 14-week, 19-week, P6 and adult heart. The arrowhead points to the interventricular septum. (B) Histograms of FA values in each voxel of the entire left ventricle of these hearts. The histograms at 10 and 14 weeks are virtually identical, and a shift towards higher FA values is seen only at 19 weeks. The P6 histogram contains FA values that overlap with both those seen in adult and fetal hearts. This reflects the relative structural immaturity and plasticity of the neonatal heart.