Diverticulum

In medicine or biology, a diverticulum is an outpouching of a hollow (or a fluid-filled) structure in the body. Depending upon which layers of the structure are involved, diverticula are described as being either true or false.

This article is about the medical term. For the structures in sea slugs, see Diverticulum (mollusc anatomy).
Diverticulum
Other namesDiverticula
Schematic drawing of a false diverticulum. A - mucosa; B - submucosa; C - muscularis; D - serosa and subserosa
SpecialtyGastroenterology

In medicine, the term usually implies the structure is not normally present, but in embryology, the term is used for some normal structures arising from others, as for instance the thyroid diverticulum, which arises from the tongue.

The word comes from Latin dīverticulum, "bypath" or "byway".

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