The ovary is an organ found in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary found on each side of the body. The ovaries also secrete hormones that play a role in the menstrual cycle and fertility. The ovary progresses through many stages beginning in the prenatal period through menopause. It is also an endocrine gland because of the various hormones that it secretes.
An ovarian cyst is a fluid-filled sac within the ovary. Often they cause no symptoms. Occasionally they may produce bloating, lower abdominal pain, or lower back pain. The majority of cysts are harmless. If the cyst either breaks open or causes twisting of the ovary, it may cause severe pain. This may result in vomiting or feeling faint.
The corpus luteum is a temporary endocrine structure in female ovaries and is involved in the production of relatively high levels of progesterone and moderate levels of estradiol and inhibin A. It is the remains of the ovarian follicle that has released a mature ovum during a previous ovulation.
An ovarian follicle is a roughly spheroid cellular aggregation set found in the ovaries. It secretes hormones that influence stages of the menstrual cycle. Women begin puberty with about 400,000 follicles, each with the potential to release an egg cell (ovum) at ovulation for fertilization. These eggs are developed once every menstrual cycle.
In anatomy and zoology, the cortex is the outermost layer of an organ. Organs with well-defined cortical layers include kidneys, adrenal glands, ovaries, the thymus, and portions of the brain, including the cerebral cortex, the best-known of all cortices.
The ovarian artery is an artery that supplies oxygenated blood to the ovary in females. It arises from the abdominal aorta below the renal artery. It can be found in the suspensory ligament of the ovary, anterior to the ovarian vein and ureter.
The broad ligament of the uterus is the wide fold of peritoneum that connects the sides of the uterus to the walls and floor of the pelvis.
The celiac ganglia or coeliac ganglia are two large irregularly shaped masses of nerve tissue in the upper abdomen. Part of the sympathetic subdivision of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), the two celiac ganglia are the largest ganglia in the ANS, and they innervate most of the digestive tract.
The suspensory ligament of the ovary, also infundibulopelvic ligament, is a fold of peritoneum that extends out from the ovary to the wall of the pelvis.
The ovarian vein, the female gonadal vein, carries deoxygenated blood from its corresponding ovary to inferior vena cava or one of its tributaries. It is the female equivalent of the testicular vein, and is the venous counterpart of the ovarian artery. It can be found in the suspensory ligament of the ovary.
The ovarian ligament is a fibrous ligament that connects the ovary to the lateral surface of the uterus.
The stroma of the ovary is a unique type of connective tissue abundantly supplied with blood vessels, consisting for the most part of spindle-shaped stroma cells. These appear similar to fibroblasts. The stroma also contains ordinary connective tissue such as reticular fibers and collagen. Ovarian stroma differs from typical connective tissue in that it contains a high number of cells. The stoma cells are distributed in such a way that the tissue appears to be whorled. Stromal cells associated with maturing follicles may acquire endocrine function and secrete estrogens. The entire ovarian stroma is highly vascular.
The medulla of ovary is a highly vascular stroma in the center of the ovary. It forms from embryonic mesenchyme and contains blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, and nerves.
The ovarian surface epithelium, also called the germinal epithelium of Waldeyer, or coelomic epithelium is a layer of simple squamous-to-cuboidal epithelial cells covering the ovary.
The theca folliculi comprise a layer of the ovarian follicles. They appear as the follicles become secondary follicles.
Sherman J. Silber is physician specializing in the field of infertility. He invented many of the infertility treatments in use today in the domain of IVF, sperm retrieval, ICSI, vasectomy reversal, tubal ligation reversal, egg and embryo freezing, ovary transplantation, and the reproductive biological clock. He performed the world's first ovary and testicle transplants, created and popularized the microsurgical vasectomy reversal, and popularized ovarian tissue freezing to preserve female fertility. He was the first to research the genetic causes of infertility in men, and developed the TESE-ICSI technique for extracting sperm from men with low or nonexistent sperm counts and direct injection of the sperm into the egg. Additionally, Silber has studied fertility in animals and performed microscopic surgery on chimpanzees, South American bush dogs, Przewalski's horse, gorillas, wolves, and other endangered species.
Ovarian tissue cryopreservation is cryopreservation of tissue of the ovary of a female.
Ovarian apoplexy is a sudden rupture in the ovary, commonly at the site of a cyst, accompanied by hemorrhage in the ovarian tissue and/or intraperitoneal bleeding.
Ovarian remnant syndrome is a condition that occurs when ovarian tissue is left behind following oophorectomy, causing development of a pelvic mass, pelvic pain, and occasionally dyspareunia. Ovarian remnant syndrome (ORS) is characterized by the presence of residual ovarian tissue after a woman has had surgery to remove one ovary or both ovaries (oophorectomy).
Roger Gordon Gosden is a British-American physiologist in the field of female reproductive medicine. His scientific research focused on understanding the basic biology of development and senescence of ovaries in women, including mathematically modeling those processes. He did important translational research on ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation.
