CHAPTER XXIV.
DISEASES OF THE FALLOPIAN TUBES.
The review of a few facts about the anatomy of the Fallopian tubes will assist in the study of the diseases that affect these structures.
The average length of the normal Fallopian tube is 4 inches (10 centimeters). The tubes are often of unequal length, the difference sometimes being equal to 1 centimeter. The length of the Fallopian tube is subject to considerable variation, and in some forms of ovarian disease the length of the tube may be very much increased.
The uterine end of the tube varies in thickness from 2 to 4 millimeters. The outer end varies from 7 to 10 millimeters in thickness.
The narrow uterine end of the tube is called the isthmus. The outer end, of trumpet-shape, is called the ampulla. The canal of the tube is small. At the uterine end, or ostium internum, it will barely admit a bristle. Beyond the middle of the tube the canal gradually widens to the outer opening—the ostium abdominale.
The ostium abdominale is surrounded by peculiar luxuriant folds of mucous membrane called fimbriæ. The fimbriæ are formed by the outward bulging of the exuberant mucous membrane.
The Fallopian tube consists of three coats, the peritoneal, the muscular, and the mucous.
The peritoneal coat, which invests the tube for two-thirds of its circumference, is formed by the free border of the broad ligament, between the folds of which the Fallopian tube lies. Loose connective tissue attaches the peritoneal to the middle or muscular coat.