Efferent ducts

Efferent ducts

The location of the efferent ducts within an adult human testicle

Vertical section of the testis, to show the arrangement of the ducts. (Labeled as vasa efferentia as top center.)
Details
Precursor Wolffian duct
Latin Ductus efferentes testis
Dorlands
/Elsevier
d_29/12314687

Anatomical terminology

The efferent ducts (or efferent ductules or ductuli efferentes or ductus efferentes or vasa efferentia) connect the rete testis with the initial section of the epididymis.

There are two basic designs for efferent ductule structure:

The ductuli are unilaminar and composed of columnar ciliated and non-ciliated (absorptive) cells. The ciliated cells serve to stir the luminal fluids, possibly to help ensure homogeneous absorption of water from the fluid produced by the testis, which results in an increase in the concentration of luminal sperm. The epithelium is surrounded by a band of smooth muscle that helps to propel the sperm toward the epididymis.

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