Summary ANATOMY OF THE OVARY

ANATOMY OF THE OVARIES GROSS ANATOMY • The ovaries are female gonads (homologous of testes in the male) which produce female gametes called oocytes (ripe ova). . Each ovary is about 4 cm long, 2 cm wide and 1 cm thick. • LOCATION • In nulliparous adult women, each ovary lies in the ovarian fossa on the lateral pelvic wall below the pelvic brim Cont… • The ovarian fossa is a slight peritoneal depression bounded: • Posteriorly by the ureter and internal iliac vessels. • Anteriorly by the external iliac vessels. • Inferiorly by the uterine tubes (in the free margin of broad ligament). External features • 1.Two extremities or poles. • 2. Two surfaces. • 3. Two borders. HISTOLOGY • STRUCTURE • Histologically, it is divided into two parts—cortex and medulla • Cortex • The cortex is the thick peripheral part and contains ovarian follicles in different stages of maturity. • It is covered by the germinal epithelium which is made up of a single layer of cuboidal cells in younger age. • In the later life, the epithelial cells become flattened. • The germinal epithelium becomes continuous with the peritoneum at the mesovarian border.