ID#: 15409
Caption:
This image depicts what is referred to as a bicornuate uterus, which had been excised from a human female patient during a hysterectomy procedure. It is not clear from this image, as to the level of the proximal uterine excision. As the name suggests, a bicornuate uterus is a congenital anomaly affecting females, whereupon, the uterus is composed of two horns, or cornua (Latin), that join to form the fundus, or body of the uterus. This condition is also known as a heart-shaped uterus. During embryologic development, the female uterus takes shape between the 6th and 12th week of gestation, when the Müllerian ducts fuse forming the uterine fundus. If these ducts incompletely fuse, a bicornuate uterus is the result. There are degrees of uterine malformation, depending upon the degree of ductal fusion, as well as whether or not the septum, which separates the two ducts during fusion, is resorbed. Note the presence of the intrauterine septum in this specimen.
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