FROM EMBRYOGENESIS TO PATHOGENESIS OF DIE THYLSTILBESTROL ACTIONS ON THE FEMALE GENITAL-TRACT

From studies on embryogenesis, the authors describe the development, n ot conditioned by sex steroids, of the upper female genital tract and, in particular, the formation of its cervico-vaginal portion and the s haping of the uterine cervix in about the 16th week of pregnancy. Basi ng themselves on the physiology of the foeto-placental unit and on the hormonal profile of the foetal ovary, they show that the action of oe strogens on the foetal uterine cervix can be observed only from the 32 nd week onward. The action of diethylstilboestrol - a potent oestrogen that is not steroidal and therefore not degraded by foetal metabolism - on the foetal genital tract is explained. An excessive development of the uterine canal caudal part determines structural anomalies of th e uterine cervix at birth, the T shape of the uterine cavity and the v aginal diaphragms. The aetiogenesis of clear-cell adenocarcinoma in th e cervico-vaginal portion is discussed.