The fine structure of the human fetal urinary bladder. Development and maturation. A light, transmission and scanning electron microscopic study.

The urinary bladders of 27 human fetuses, aged 7 weeks to full term, were studied by light, transmission and scanning electron microscopy to establish the sequence of events in the development and maturation of the organ during fetal life. In the early specimens, 7-12 weeks old, the urinary bladder was lined by a bilayered, cuboidal and glycogen-rich epithelium. During the 13-17th weeks the epithelium thickened, a third layer developed and by light microscopy it now resembled urothelium. By 21 weeks this had evolved into a 3-4 layer thick epithelium with typical ultrastructural urothelial characteristics. Smooth muscle cells emerged from the condensed mesenchyme of the bladder wall by the 12th week of gestation, initially in the cephalic part of the organ but spreading within a week into the caudal end. Our findings indicate that the human fetal bladder undergoes a series of vital developmental changes during 13-21 weeks of gestation finally acquiring the typical urothelial lining and a well-developed muscular coat.