Adventitia
The adventitia is the outer layer of fibrous connective tissue surrounding an organ.
The outer layer of connective tissue that surrounds an artery, or vein – the tunica externa, is also called the tunica adventitia.
To some degree, its role is complementary to that of the serosa, which also provides a layer of tissue surrounding an organ. In the abdomen, whether an organ is covered in adventitia or serosa depends upon whether it is peritoneal or retroperitoneal:
- intraperitoneal organs are covered in serosa
- retroperitoneal organs are covered in adventitia
The connective tissue of the gallbladder is covered by adventitia where the gallbladder bounds the liver, but by serosa for the rest of its surface.