A muscular tube of 10-13 cm length, lined by folded mucosa, the oviduct emerges from a lateral evagination of the uterus as a narrow canal. Passing upward in a lateral direction, it gradually becomes wider and opens freely into the abdominal cavity, while arching back onto the ovary. The orifice at the uterine cavity is termed ostium uterinum tubae uterinae. The first, very narrow segment of the oviduct is situated inside the wall of the uterus (intramural part), with a diameter of approximately 1 mm. The next segment of 4 cm length (isthmic part) is still quite narrow, and this is followed by the gradually broadening part termed ampulla.
The ampulla passes upwards in front of the anterior border of the ovary, and then, bending back on itself over its superior pole, it ends in a fringed funnel (infundibulum tubae uterinae) arching over the upper part of the ovary. Deep inside the infundibulum the abdominal orifice (ostium abdominale tubae uterinae) can be found. One of the longest fringes surrounding the infundibular edge (fimbriae tubae) is tightly adherent to the ovarian surface (appendix vesiculosa, fimbria ovarica). The mucosal lining the oviduct is reflected here, along the edge of the fimbriae, into the peritoneum, covering the oviduct from outside. Unlike in males, the abdominal cavity of females is not closed, since it communicates with the exterior via the tubal orifice and genital canal.
The oviduct or Fallopian tube is an intraperitoneal organ, passing along the free antero-superior edge of the broad ligament. That part of the broad ligament which lies between the mesovarium and the oviduct is designated as mesosalpinx. In this duplicature, an arched vascular anastomosis is found, which supplies the oviduct. This arterial arcade is composed of tubar branches arising from the ovarian and uterine arteries. Venous blood is returned toward the venous plexuses around the ovary and the uterus.
Utolsó módosítás: 2014. February 12., Wednesday, 09:57