The rest of the wall is rather thin and shows interlaced smooth muscle bundles. The surface epithelium is high cuboidal or low columnar and has a ciliated surface. A panoramic view of the uterus showing the whole thickness of the wall. This is a mucosa, with epithelium and lamina propria and glands. This is by far the widest layer in the wall.
Arrows point to large blood vessels.
Slide 16 Dotted line represents the base of the endometrium. Menstruation is in progress, with breakdown of surface tissue. Slide 17 Overview of uterine wall in the early post-menstrual stage. Only the basal layer of endometrium is present. Glands are sparse.