endocardial cushions

cushion /cush·ion/ (koosh´un) a soft or padlike part.

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anal cushions  masses of subepithelial tissue, located in the left lateral, right posterior, and right anterior quadrants of the anal canal, that seal the anal canal and maintain continence.

endocardial cushions  elevations on the atrioventricular canal of the embryonic heart which later help form the interatrial septum.

intimal cushions  longitudinal thickenings of the intima of certain arteries, e.g., the penile arteries; they serve functionally as valves, controlling blood flow by occluding the lumen of the artery.

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endocardial cushions,

a pair of thickened tissue sections in the embryonic atrial canal. During embryonic development they meet and fuse to form a septum dividing the canal into two channels which eventually become the atrioventricular orifices.

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endocardial

1. situated or occurring within the heart.

2. pertaining to the endocardium.

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endocardial cushions

elevations on the atrioventricular canal of the embryonic heart which later help partition the heart. Defective development contributes to several cardiac anomalies, including ventricular septal defect and atrioventricularis communis.

endocardial fibroelastosis

the accumulation of collagen and elastic fibers in the endocardium, together with left ventricular hypertrophy dilatation, is an inherited, primary cardiac anomaly in Burmese cats.

endocardial fibrosis

occurs with cardiac dilatation or hypertrophy. In cats, leads to restrictive cardiomyopathy.

endocardial splitting

a complication of chronic valvular insufficiency and congestive cardiomyopathy in dogs. May be partial or full thickness; can occur on the interatrial septum, producing an acquired septal defect, or elsewhere causing hemopericardium.

endocardial tube

formed from the cardiogenic plate in the developing embryo, this forms the primordium of the truncus arteriosus, the atrium and the ventricles; it is later invested by the myocardium.