ABSTRACT
Inflammation and consequent functional disturbance due to sexually transmitted infections frequently affect the whole female genital tract, even when the clinical manifestations are restricted to one region. The female reproductive tract is, due to its cyclical functions and exposure to pathogens, at risk of a variety of neoplastic and inflammatory conditions. An important vaginal abnormality, which occurred in female infants born to mothers treated in pregnancy with diethylstilbestrol is vaginal adenosis. Dysgerminoma - which is the ovarian counterpart of testicular seminoma - occurs in young females and is an important diagnosis to make because the tumour is radiosensitive. Inflammation of the fallopian tube occurs predominantly by ascending infection from the uterine cavity, and is generally accompanied by infection of other parts of the female genital tract. During fetal development, the germ cells migrate from the yolk sac through the dorsal mesentery to lie within the indifferent gonads, which differentiate in the female to form the ovaries.
