Endometriosis

Endo- means internal and -metrium means womb, so endometrium is the innermost layer of the womb, and endometriosis is where these endometrial cells grow outside of the womb.

The female internal sex organs are the ovaries, which are the female gonads; the fallopian tubes, two muscular tubes that connect the ovaries to the uterus; and the uterus, which is the strong muscular sack that a fetus can develop in.

It’s a hollow organ that sits behind the urinary bladder and in front of the rectum.

The top of the uterus above the openings of the fallopian tubes is called the fundus, and the region below the openings is called the uterine body.

The uterus tapers down into the uterine isthmus and finally the cervix, which protrudes into the vagina.

It’s is anchored to the sacrum by utero-sacral ligaments, to the anterior body wall by round ligaments, and it’s supported laterally by cardinal ligaments as well as the mesometrium, which is part of the broad ligament.

The wall of the uterus has three layers: the perimetrium, which is a layer continuous with the lining of the peritoneal cavity, the myometrium, which is made of smooth muscle that contracts during childbirth to help push the baby out, and the endometrium, a mucosal layer, that undergoes monthly cyclic changes.