Prostatic utricle

Prostatic utricle

Vesiculae seminales and ampullæ of ductus deferentes, seen from the front.

The male urethra laid open on its anterior (upper) surface.
Details
Precursor Müllerian duct
Identifiers
Latin Utriculus prostaticus,
utriculus masculinus,
vagina masculina,
sinus pocularis
TA A09.4.02.009
FMA 19702

Anatomical terminology

The prostatic utricle (Latin for "pouch of the prostate") is a small indentation in the prostatic urethra, at the apex of the urethral crest, on the seminal colliculus (verumontanum), laterally flanked by openings of the ejaculatory ducts. It is also known as the vagina masculina or (in older literature) vesicula prostatica.[1]

Structure

It is often described as "blind", meaning that it is a duct that does not lead to any other structures.

It can sometimes be enlarged.[2][3]

Dissection of prostate showing prostatic utricle opening into the prostatic urethra.

Function

The prostatic utricle is important, primarily, because it is the homologue of the uterus and vagina, usually described as derived from the paramesonephric duct,[4] although this is occasionally disputed.[5]

In 1905 Robert William Taylor stated the function of the utricle, writing, "In coitus it so contracts that it draws upon the openings of the ejaculatory ducts, and thus renders them so patulous that the semen readily passes through."[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Henry Thompson (1883). "vesicula+prostatica"+utricle The diseases of the prostate. J&A Churchill.
  2. ↑ Meisheri IV, Motiwale SS, Sawant VV (2000). "Surgical management of enlarged prostatic utricle". Pediatr. Surg. Int. 16 (3): 199–203. doi:10.1007/s003830050722. PMID 10786981.
  3. ↑ Lopatina OA, Berry TT, Spottswood SE (2004). "Giant prostatic utricle (utriculus masculinis): diagnostic imaging and surgical implications". Pediatr Radiol. 34 (2): 156–9. doi:10.1007/s00247-003-1048-9. PMID 12961046.
  4. ↑ Kawashima, A.; Sandler, C. M.; Wasserman, N. F.; LeRoy, A. J.; King, B. F.; Goldman, S. M. (1 October 2004). "Imaging of Urethral Disease: A Pictorial Review". Radiographics. 24 (suppl_1): S195–S216. doi:10.1148/rg.24si045504.
  5. ↑ Shapiro E, Huang H, McFadden DE, et al. (2004). "The prostatic utricle is not a Müllerian duct remnant: immunohistochemical evidence for a distinct urogenital sinus origin". J. Urol. 172 (4 Pt 2): 1753–6; discussion 1756. doi:10.1097/01.ju.0000140267.46772.7d. PMID 15371806.
  6. ↑ R. W. Taylor. "A practical treatise on sexual disorders of the male and female". New York and Philadelphia, 1897; 3rd edition, 1905. P. 48
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