A surgical pathology specimen from a 24 year old woman seen at a reproductive medicine clinic demonstrates a ciliated columnar epithelium. From which of the following locations in the female genital tract was the biopsy obtained?
The fallopian tube is the only structure in the female genital tract with a ciliated columnar epithelium; the beating of the cilia helps move the egg into the uterus. This fact is also sometimes clinically helpful since dilated and deformed fallopian tubes can be microscopically distinguished from cystic ovarian tumors by the presence of the cilia. The cervix and vagina are lined by squamous epithelium. The endometrium is lined by columnar epithelium (although a few ciliated cells may be present). The covering of the ovary is cuboidal epithelium, and cysts within the ovary can be lined by cuboidal or non-ciliated columnar epithelium.
Cervix
Endometrium
Fallopian tube
Ovary