ANGIOARCHITECTURE OF THE HUMAN SPERMATIC CORD

Human spermatic cords were investigated by means of cast preparations, light-microscopic examination and computer-aided 3-dimensional recons tructions from serial sections of paraffin-embedded material. After le aving the testis, the testicular veins formed two principal groups co- existing side by side. Numerous veno-venous anastomoses could be obser ved within each individual group, whereas only a few mutual intergroup anastomoses were found. The testicular artery ran within one group bu t showed no close topographical relationship to the other group. Light microscopy of the serial sections revealed that the group of veins wi th no close topographical relationship to the testicular artery ran at a distance of several centimeters embedded within fatty tissue. With the help of computer-aided 3-dimensional reconstructions, a spatial pi cture of the vascular organization was obtained. These results allowed the following classification of the veins of the pampiniform plexus. Group-I veins formed a tight plexus around the testicular artery by me ans of veno-venous anastomoses. Group-II veins formed veno-venous anas tomoses between each other and ran over at a sizeable distance embedde d in fatty tissue but showed no close topographical relationship to th e testicular artery. Group-III vessels formed veno-venous anastomoses between group-I and group-II. Group IV veins formed arterio-venous ana stomoses with the testicular artery. Based on the differences in wall structure and diameter, a subclassification in group-I and group-II wa s undertaken. This organization of the veins of the human pampiniform plexus should further the understanding of physiological processes, su ch as the transfer of hormones and other substances from the veins to the testicular artery and vice versa. It should also facilitate the tr acing of the veins during antegrade sclerosing.