Title: foramen ovale
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - foramen ovale
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.10737
Status: current

Definition
In the fetal heart, opening that allows shunting of blood between the right and left atria and normally closes at birth.
One of the larger foramina in the base of the skull.

Related Terms
- atria: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/10441
- fetal: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/10718
- foramina: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/10735

Source
- PAC, 2016, 88, 713. 'Glossary of terms used in developmental and reproductive toxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2016)' on page 757 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-1202)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/10737/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/10737/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/10737/xml

Citation: Citation: 'foramen ovale' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.10737
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-08-09T20:56:24+00:00