Medical expert of the article
New publications
Oviduct
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Fallopian tube (fallopian tube, tuba uterina, s.salpinx) - paired organ, serves to carry the ovum from the ovary (from the peritoneal cavity) into the uterine cavity. Fallopian tubes are located in the cavity of the small pelvis and represent a cylindrical shape of the ducts that run from the uterus to the ovaries. Each tube lies in the upper part of the broad ligament of the uterus, which is like a mesentery of the uterine tube. The length of the fallopian tube is 10-12 cm, the lumen of the tube is from 2 to 4 mm. On the one hand, the uterine tube communicates with the uterine cavity with a very narrow tube opening (ostium uterinum tubae), on the other - opens with the abdominal opening (ostium abdominale tubae uterinae) into the peritoneal cavity, near the ovary. Thus, in a woman, the cavity of the peritoneum through the lumen of the fallopian tubes, the uterine cavity and the vagina communicates with the external environment.
The fallopian tube initially has a horizontal position, then, reaching the walls of the small pelvis, bends the ovary at its tubal end and ends at its medial surface. The uterine tube distinguishes: the uterine part (pars uterina), which is enclosed in the thickness of the uterus wall, and the isthmus tubae uterinae isthmus - the closest part to the uterus. This is the narrowest and at the same time the thickest part of the uterine tube, which is located between the leaves of the broad ligament of the uterus. The next part behind the isthmus is the role of the uterine tube (ampulla tubae uterinae), which accounts for almost half the length of the entire fallopian tube. The ampullar part gradually grows in diameter and passes into the next part - the funnel of the uterine tube (infundibulum tubae uterinae), which ends with the long and narrow fimbriae of the tube (fimbriae tubae). One of the fringes differs from the others in the longer length. It reaches the ovary and often grows to it - this is the so-called fimbria ovaria. The fimbriae of the tube direct the movement of the egg towards the funnel of the fallopian tube. At the bottom of the funnel there is an abdominal opening of the uterine tube, through which the ovary discharged from the ovary enters the lumen of the uterine tube.
[The structure of the wall of the uterine tube
The wall of the uterine tube from the outside is represented by the peritoneal - serosa (tunica serosa), beneath which is the subserosa (tela subserosa). The next layer of the wall of the uterine tube is formed by the muscular membrane (tunica muscularis), which continues into the musculature of the uterus and consists of two layers. The outer layer is formed by longitudinally located beams of smooth muscle cells (undistorted). The inner layer, thicker, consists of circularly oriented beams of muscle cells. Peristalsis of the muscular membrane provides movement of the egg to the uterine cavity. There is no submucosal base in the uterine tube, therefore under the muscular shell there is a lining (tunica mucosa), which forms longitudinal tubular folds (plicae tubariae) throughout the uterine tube. Closer to the abdominal opening of the uterine tube, the mucosa becomes thicker and has more folds. They are especially numerous in the funnel of the uterine tube. The mucous membrane is covered with epithelium, the cilia of which oscillate towards the uterus, promoting the progress of the egg. Microvillious prismatic epithelial cells secret secret, moisturizing the surface of the mucous membrane, and ensure the development of a fertilized egg (embryo) when moving in the lumen of the uterine tube.
Vessels and nerves of the fallopian tubes
The blood supply of the uterine tube comes from two sources: the tubal branch of the uterine artery and the branch from the ovarian artery. Venous blood flows from the same veins into the uterine venous plexus. Lymphatic vessels of the tube flow into the lumbar lymph nodes. Innervation of the fallopian tubes is carried out from the ovarian and utero-vaginal plexuses.
On the roentgenogram, the fallopian tubes have the form of long and narrow shadows enlarged in the region of the ampullar part.