Ureter Flashcards

Study the ureters, their retroperitoneal course, anatomical constrictions, wall layers, blood supply, innervation, and pelvic relationships.

Card 1 of 30Question

What are the ureters?

Paired muscular tubes that transport urine from the renal pelves to the urinary bladder.

In This Section

1. What are the ureters?

Paired muscular tubes that transport urine from the renal pelves to the urinary bladder.

2. What is the approximate length of an adult ureter?

Approximately 25 to 30 cm, with individual variation.

3. At which anatomical junction does the ureter begin?

The ureteropelvic junction, where the renal pelvis narrows into the ureter.

4. Where does each ureter terminate?

At a ureteric orifice in the urinary bladder.

5. What is the peritoneal relationship of the ureters?

They are primarily retroperitoneal structures.

6. Which muscle lies posterior to the abdominal portion of the ureter?

The psoas major muscle.

7. Which vessels do the ureters usually cross near the pelvic brim?

The common iliac artery bifurcation or the proximal external iliac artery.

8. What are the three traditional sites of ureteric narrowing?

The ureteropelvic junction, the iliac vessel crossing, and the ureterovesical junction.

9. Why are the traditional ureteric narrowing sites clinically important?

They are common locations where urinary calculi may become lodged.

10. What are the three principal layers of the ureteric wall?

Mucosa, muscularis, and adventitia.

11. What type of epithelium lines the ureter?

Transitional epithelium, also called urothelium.

12. What is the principal function of the ureteric urothelium?

To provide a distensible barrier that protects underlying tissues from urine.

13. What produces the star-shaped appearance of the ureteric lumen in cross-section?

Longitudinal folds of the mucosa when the ureter is not distended.

14. How is smooth muscle typically arranged in the upper ureter?

An inner longitudinal layer and an outer circular layer.

15. What additional muscular layer is commonly present in the distal ureter?

An outer longitudinal smooth muscle layer.

16. What mechanism propels urine through the ureter?

Coordinated peristaltic contractions of the ureteric smooth muscle.

17. Does ureteric urine transport depend primarily on gravity?

No. Peristalsis can transport urine independently of gravity.

18. Which arteries contribute to the blood supply of the abdominal ureter?

Branches of the renal, gonadal, aortic, and iliac arteries, with variable contributions.

19. Which arteries commonly supply the pelvic ureter?

Branches of the internal iliac artery, including vesical and, in females, uterine arteries.

20. Where do the longitudinal arterial anastomoses supplying the ureter run?

Within the ureteric adventitia.

21. Which autonomic plexuses contribute to ureteric innervation?

The renal, aortic, and hypogastric plexuses.

22. Which spinal cord segments commonly receive pain afferents from the ureter?

Approximately T11 to L2.

23. Where is pain from a ureteric stone commonly referred?

From the flank toward the lower abdomen, groin, or external genital region.

24. What is the relationship between the ureter and uterine artery in females?

The uterine artery crosses superior to the ureter near the cervix.

25. Why is the pelvic ureter vulnerable during hysterectomy?

It passes close to the cervix beneath the uterine artery.

26. What is the relationship between the ureter and ductus deferens in males?

The ductus deferens crosses superior to the ureter near the urinary bladder.

27. How does the ureter enter the urinary bladder?

It travels obliquely through the bladder wall before opening into the bladder lumen.

28. What prevents urine from readily flowing backward into the ureter during bladder filling?

Compression of the oblique intramural ureter by the bladder wall.

29. What embryological structure gives rise to the ureter?

The ureteric bud, an outgrowth of the mesonephric duct.

30. What is a duplicated ureter?

A congenital variation in which two ureteric drainage channels develop from one kidney, either joining or remaining separate.