Three-dimensional reconstruction of the luminal structure of human seminal vesicle.

ABSTRACT

The seminal vesicles are the glands of male reproductive organs that produce the fluid and nutrient constituents of semen. It has been believed for a long time that the lumen of a seminal vesicle was a single-coiled tubular structure with irregular diverticula. There are several previous reports on the symmetry, differences in morphological sizes and classification of the seminal vesicles. However, a three-dimensional-coiled tubular structure is difficult to understand using a classical anatomical methodology, and hence, three-dimensional reconstruction is needed to understand the structure of the lumen. Thirty-one seminal vesicles harvested from 21 formalin-embalmed cadavers were investigated. The seminal vesicle along with the ampulla of the ductus deferens was separated, and the length and width of each seminal vesicle were measured. The vesicles were then embedded in coloured paraffin, and the resulting paraffin block was sectioned transversely and photographed at an interval of 500 µm, with the sectioned surfaces then utilized in three-dimensional reconstruction performed by 'Reconstruct' software. The mean length and width of the seminal vesicles were 39.4 mm and 13.4 mm, respectively, and the right seminal vesicle was a little larger than the one on the left. The size differed from previous reports, while the luminal structure was similar to the classification of Aboul-azm (Archives of Andrology, 3, 1979, 287-292) but differed from that of Pereira (AJR. American Journal of Roentgenology, 69, 1953, 361-379). The seminal vesicles typically comprised about 9 curls and had about 12 diverticula. The seminal vesicles resembled a skein of coral rather than comprising a single strand. These findings will help in improving the understanding of pathophysiologies of the seminal vesicles, such as recurrent inflammation of the gland.