Embryology

The internal and external genitalia of both sexes are genetically ‘programmed’ to differentiate passively down a ‘default’  female pathway unless actively switched down a male pathway by the genetic information...

The lower urinary tract originates from the cloaca, the section of primitive hindgut into which the mesonephric ducts and embryonic ureters drain. Between the fourth and sixth weeks of gestation,...

In the cervical portions of the paired blocks of intermediate mesoderm the primitive precursor of the kidney,  the pronephros,  first appears in the fourth week of gestation.  This structure rapidly...

Human gestation spans a period of 38 weeks, from fertilisation to birth. Conventionally, pregnancy is divided into three trimesters,  each of 3 months’ duration.  The formation of organs and systems...

A working knowledge of the embryology of the genitourinary tract provides the basis for understanding the structural anomalies encountered in paediatric urological practice. Although this section will concentrate predominantly on...