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The tube that conducts the urine from the renal pelvis to the bladder; it consists of an abdominal part and a pelvic part, is lined with transitional epithelium surrounded by smooth muscle, both circular and longitudinal, and is covered externally by a tunica adventitia. [G. oureter, urinary canal]

- curlicue u. term given to the radiographic appearance of an opacified u., herniated through the sciatic foramen; a very rare condition.

- ectopic u. opens somewhere other than the bladder wall.

- ileal u. SYN: ureteroileoneocystostomy.

- postcaval u. congenital defect where the right u. passes deep to the inferior vena cava on its descent to the bladder.

- retrocaval u. in urography, the medial deviation of the right u. in the rare circumstance in which it passes behind the inferior vena cava before entering the pelvis.

- retroiliac u. congenital defect where the u. passes deep to the iliac artery.

ure·ter 'yu̇r-ət-ər, yu̇-'rēt-ər n either of the paired ducts that carry away urine from a kidney to the bladder or cloaca and that in humans are slender membranous epithelium-lined flat tubes about sixteen inches (41 centimeters) long which open above into the pelvis of a kidney and below into the back part of the same side of the bladder at a very oblique angle

either of a pair of tubes, 25-30 cm long, that conduct urine from the pelvis of kidneys to the bladder. The walls of the ureters contain thick layers of smooth muscle, which contract to force urine into the bladder, between an outer fibrous coat and an inner mucous layer.

• ureteral • reteric adj.