Definitions for "Chorionic villus"
Keywords:  villus, villi, placental, placenta, cvs
a finger-like projection in the outer layer of the membrane which surrounds the embryo. The membrane, or chorion, forms part of the placenta. The villus is important, because it is involved in exchanges between the mother and the embryo. Cell samples which are taken from the chorionic villus are used to diagnose genetic disease before birth.
fingerlike projection of the chorion; it grows into the decidua basalis of the endometrium and contains fetal blood vessels
A tongue of tissue within the placenta composed of chorion and containing capillaries connected to the blood circulation in the fetus that laps the mother's blood in the uterus, exchanging oxygen, nutrients and waste products between the fetus's blood vessels (in the villi) and the mother's blood. This tissue is sampled for genetic testing with a CVS (or chorionic villus sampling. See also intervillous space. Plural: chorionic villus.