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Mesovarium: anatomy, location and function

The mesovarium is the short peritoneal fold that attaches the ovary to the back of the broad ligament. It carries the ovarian vessels and nerves into the ovary.

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Highlighted in the model: Mesovarium. 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.

Mesovarium at a glance

What it is
The mesovarium is the short peritoneal fold that attaches the ovary to the back of the broad ligament.
Location
It joins the anterior border of the ovary (the hilum) to the posterior layer of the broad ligament.
Function
It carries the ovarian vessels and nerves into the ovary.
Body system
Reproductive · paired (left and right) · female body
FMA ID
FMA19818 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • Only the hilum of the ovary is attached; the rest of the ovary lies free in the peritoneal cavity.

Clinical relevance

Twisting of the ovary on its mesovarium and suspensory ligament (torsion) cuts off its blood supply.

Structures next to the mesovarium

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

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Mesovarium (FMA19818). 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.

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