Gartner's Canal

GARTNER'S CANAL, ductus Gartneri, a rudimentary part of the female reproductive apparatus, the remainder of the Wolffian (pronephric) duct, corresponding to the epididymal duct (vas epididymis) and the vas deferens in males. During embryonic development, the Wolffian ducts lie adjacent to the Müllerian ducts on their outer side and in the lower two-thirds fuse with them, becoming part of the developing uterus and vagina. G. c. consists of the longitudinal course of the epoophoron—otherwise known as Rosenmüller's organ (ductus epoophori longitudinalis s. ductus Gartneri), located in the broad ligament of the uterus, parallel to the Fallopian tube at some distance from it, and its continuation, which runs in the lateral wall of the uterus and vagina as far as the vestibulum vaginae. In a cross-section of the uterus of a seven-month-old fetus, G. c. is clearly visible as part of the outer wall (Figure 1); in some mammals (pig, ruminants), G. c. persists throughout life; in women, the uterine and vaginal portions usually disappear or remain as separate cavities and ducts of varying lengths, which may form cysts; in newborns, an opening of G. c. can sometimes still be observed in the vestibulum vaginae in the form of a blind diverticulum. The ducts of G. c. are lined with cylindrical, sometimes ciliated epithelium, have a connective tissue capsule, and in places also muscular tissue made of longitudinal and circular smooth muscles (see also Wolffian duct, Wolffian body).