Skip to content
EasyAnatomyLab
Menu

Cardinal ligament of uterus: anatomy, location and function

The cardinal ligament is a thickening of pelvic connective tissue from the cervix to the side wall of the pelvis. It is a main passive support of the uterus and upper vagina, together with the uterosacral ligaments.

Loading 3D model…
Skin0%
Muscles100%

Structures

Loading… Click the model or search.

Highlighted in the model: Cardinal ligament of uterus. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. Use Male / Female to switch bodies. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science; knee ligaments, menisci, tonsils, palate and parotid glands from the Human Reference Atlas Visible Human Male model and female parts from its Visible Human Female model (HuBMAP / NIH); lung lobes built from the BodyParts3D chest; all CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The female body shares the male skeleton, muscles and organs except its pelvis, reproductive organs, breasts, bladder, urethra and skin.

Cardinal ligament of uterus at a glance

Also called
Transverse cervical ligament, Mackenrodt ligament
What it is
The cardinal ligament is a thickening of pelvic connective tissue from the cervix to the side wall of the pelvis.
Location
It lies at the base of the broad ligament, from the side of the cervix and upper vagina to the lateral pelvic wall.
Function
It is a main passive support of the uterus and upper vagina, together with the uterosacral ligaments.
Body system
Reproductive · paired (left and right) · female body
FMA ID
FMA19122 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • The uterine vessels run in it, and the ureter passes through it beneath the uterine artery.

Clinical relevance

It is divided in radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer; its weakening contributes to uterine prolapse.

Structures next to the cardinal ligament of uterus

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Cardinal ligament of uterus (FMA19122). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §27.2 Anatomy and Physiology of the Ovarian Reproductive System. Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
  4. Browne K., Schlehlein H. 3D Reference Organ Set for United, Female (Visible Human Female). Human Reference Atlas 3D Reference Object Library, HuBMAP / NIH. Data from the NLM Visible Human Project. CC BY 4.0.

Related anatomy

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.