Female Reproductive Anatomy Flashcards
What is theriogenology?
Discipline in vet med dealing with all aspects of reproduction.
What is important to remember about the mucosa along the female repro tract?
There are different types all the way down.
What should you be able to do with a bovine uterus on rectal palp and why?
Flip the uterus up to palpate the entire length because it has a very lose broad ligament.
Roughly where are the ovaries located in a bovine?
Usually around the level of the cervix.
What species has a similar repro tract to cows?
Sheep and goats (small ruminants)
What is a characteristic difference in a sow?
Corkscrew cervix
Why does a sow have such huge uterine horns?
Need room for 10-16 piglets in a litter.
What is a major difference between a mare and a cow?
Mare has a very tight broad ligament (think long horn shaped)
What cell type is in the vestibule?
Ectoderm
What cell type is beyond the vestibule (cranial vaginal, cervix)?
Mesoderm
What comprises the placentome?
Caruncles and cotyledons
What is the maternal portion of a placentome?
Caruncle
What is the fetal portion of a placentome?
Cotyledon
Describe an equine uterus.
Big uterine body with chubby uterine horns.
In a mare, what will get looser or tighter depending on the hormones?
Longitudinal folds in the cervix.
*Tight with PG, loose with Estrogen
Describe the uterus in the bitch.
Tiny uterine body with long uterine horns.
What do dogs have around their uterus that you need to be aware of during a spay?
Lots of fat, need to make sure you’ve gotten the ovaries out.
What species has a “pillowy vagina”?
Canine
If you’re taking cytology from a bitch, where do you take the cells from?
Closer to the cervix.
What can you see in a uterine horn of a queen that has had a litter?
Placental scars
What is a difference between cow and ewe circulation?
Bovine uterus can work with just one side, the ewe needs both sides.
What does the mare need in order to get the full signal that she’s pregnant?
The fetus needs to move around all over the uterus.
List the structures in the ovary in chronological order.
Primordial follicles Primary follicles Secondary follicles Developing antral (tertiary) follicle Antral (dominant) follicle Ovulating follicle Corpus luteum
What happens to primary follicles?
Develop into secondary follicles, or degenerate
What is a primary follicle?
Oocyte surrounded by single layer of cuboidal cells.
What is a secondary follicle?
Oocyte surrounded by more than one layer of cells, but no cavity (antrum)
What structure do we see in the secondary follicle?
Zona pellucida
What structure do we see in the tertiary (developing antral) follicle?
Antrum, filled with follicular fluid
What happens to tertiary follicles?
Develop into Graffian/dominant follicle or degenerate
What stage of follicle development is often palpable?
Tertiary follicle/Developing antral follicle
What happens to the dominant follicle?
May ovulate or degenerate.
What structure are we looking for when an animal is ready to ovulate? (Hint: it can be palpated and seen with the naked eye)
Dominant follicle
What is the name for a degenerating CL?
Corpus albicans
What path does the follicle take to get from the ovary to the uterus?
Infundibulum > Ampulla > Isthmus > Uterine horn
What is the role of the infundibulum?
To capture the egg and pass it down to the ostium of the ampulla.
What part of the uterine horn has the greatest surface area?
The ampulla
Which part of the uterine horn is thick and muscular to help push sperm up towards the egg?
The isthmus
Which part of the uterine horn is thick and muscular to help push sperm up towards the egg?
The isthmus
Where does fertilization occur?
At the ampullar-isthmus junction
Where does fertilization occur?
At the ampullar-isthmus junction
What is odd about the mare ovary?
It is inverted so follicles move INTO the ovary.
*NOTE: You should NOT be able to palpate a CL because of this.
What is a duplex uterus?
Two cervices
What species have a duplex uterus (two cervices)?
Marsupials and rabbits
What is a bicornuate uterus?
Has two uterine horns
What species have a bicornuate uterus?
Equine, bovine, canine, feline and porcine.
What two species have poorly to moderately developed uterine horns?
Bovine and equine.
What three species have highly developed uterine horns?
Canine, feline and porcine.
What is a simplex uterus?
No uterine horns.
What species has a simplex uterus?
Primates
