The arterial blood supply of the human fetal diaphragm.

To gain a better understanding of the development of the human diaphragm, a study of the arterial supply was made in 20 fetuses. The Micropaque injection was injected either by an ascending route in the thoracic aorta or by a descending route in the left internal carotid below the ductus arteriosus. Two studies using diaphanization have displayed the diaphragmatic anastomoses. The phrenic and the intercostal a. seemed the most important to explain the diaphragm organogenesis.