So if we think about the oocyte from the ovary being released into the peritoneal cavity then
we continue the discussion with the uterine tubes this is kind of the next area that we're moving
into and often times you'll hear uterine tubes referred to as Fallopian tubes as discussed in
previous courses we're moving away from eponyms but a lot of times clinically you'll still hear
the term Fallopian now the uterine tubes are about 10 centimeters each one and similar to
what we had with the ovaries you do have an association with the broad ligament of the
uterus but what's unique about the uterine tubes is this portion of the broad ligament the mesosalpinx this is actually going to completely surround the uterine tube so this is really the
only pelvic organ of the female that's going to be considered intraperitoneal and that makes
sense if you think about the oocyte being released into the peritoneal cavity you're going to need a
structure that's completely within the peritoneum to really kind of get that back into the heading
towards the uterus so the main function is to transport that secondary oocyte or the
fertilized ovum which typically actually occurs in a portion of the uterine tube so fertilization
often occurs in what we refer to as the ampulla of the uterine tube now let's start with the most
lateral portions of the uterine tube and this is referred to as the infundibulum and there's
two main areas that I want to talk about when we're talking about the infundibulum so let's
kind of get organized in terms of where we are at in this picture here's the uterus here the ovary
is here and then this structure right here this is the uterine tube and you can see it's really
very tightly surrounded by that peritoneum so the most lateral portion is referred to as the
infundibulum this is opening into the peritoneal cavity at what we referred to as the abdominal
ostium so the opening and what else is unique and you can kind of see this in this image are
these finger-like projections that are open that are surrounding that abdominal ostium which we
refer to as fimbriae or fimbriae you'll hear it either way and that's they are exactly what they
look like they're finger like projections that will kind of move in order to get the oocyte
into the uterine tube and these will actually engorge during ovulation in order to allow for
that closer association with the oocyte there's one actual fimbriae that actually attaches to the
ovaries the rest are just right around it now as we move more medially or towards the uterus
you had the longest portion of the uterine tube and that is the ampulla and the ampulla is going
to be the most typical site of fertilization so that is where the sperm meets the oocyte and
then you have the formation the zygote this will continue in to what's referred to as the isthmus
so kind of the narrowest portion of the uterine tube and this is where you're going to have the
joining to the uterus into the uterine cavity here or the lumen of the uterus so that's where
you can have implantation typically occurs within the uterine cavity now every once in a while the
ampulla like I said is going to be the most typical place for fertilization occasionally
this can actually occur in the peritoneal cavity as well you do have a small portion of the uterine
tube referred to as the uterine part that is continuous with the myometrium of the uterus
now there's three main layers and we're going to talk about the first two because they're probably
the two most important the mucosa are going to have associated cilia associated with the cells
and what it does is it works is almost a conveyor belt to move the oocyte from the abdominal ostium
towards the lumen or the uterine cavity so those cilia those little kind of hairlike projections
of the cells will move it down or move it more medially and the muscularis layer which is the
middle layer of the uterine tube will serve a similar function and the fact that it will have
peristaltic contractions that will move the OA site towards the uterine cavity as well and that
serosa as we know this is going to be very closely associated with the peritoneum so we've moved on
the oocyte from the ovary into the peritoneal cavity it will move through the uterine tube
and then it will be within the uterine cavity now dependent on whether it has been fertilized or not
that will change the structure or what's going to happen within the uterus quite dramatically
so let's continue our discussion with the structures and the function of the uterus