Editing Seminal Vesicles and Ejaculatory Ducts

== Gross Structure ==

* Posterior to the bladder and prostate, '''lateral to the vas deferens'''
* '''The non-obstructed seminal vesicle measures 1.5 cm in width and 5-7 cm in length; 3-4 mL capacity'''
* '''Ureters enter bladder medial to tip of seminal vesicles'''
* '''The joining of the seminal vesicle with the vas deferens creates the ejaculatory duct.'''
* Insert figure
* '''The ejaculatory ducts are paired structures that empty through the verumontanum into the distal prostatic urethra'''
* Insert figure

== Microanatomic architecture ==

* '''Seminal vesicle has columnar epithelium with''' '''goblet cells'''

== Vasculature ==

* '''Arterial supply'''
** '''Seminal vesicle: superior and inferior vesical arteries'''
*** The superior vesical artery branches into the vesiculodeferential artery and supplies the anterior surface of the seminal vesicle in proximity to its tip.
*** The inferior vesical artery branches into the prostatovesicular artery
** '''Ejaculatory duct: inferior vesical artery'''

== Innervation ==

* '''Seminal vesicles'''
** '''Receive parasympathetic innervation from the pelvic plexus and sympathetic innervation from the hypogastric nerves and the superior lumbar nerves'''
*** '''The hypogastric nerve is the nerve that transitions between the superior hypogastric plexus and the pelvic plexus (inferior hypogastric plexus''' '''in some texts''')
**** '''The pelvic plexus supplies the viscera of the pelvic cavity'''
**** '''The superior hypogastric plexus (in older texts, hypogastric plexus or presacral nerve) is situated on the vertebral bodies anterior to the bifurcation of the abdominal aorta.'''
*** '''The hypogastric nerve contains sympathetic fibers descending from the superior hypogastric plexus and parasympathetic fibers ascending from the pelvic plexus'''§
* '''Ejaculatory ducts'''
** '''Innervated by the pelvic plexus'''

== Radiology ==

* '''Seminal vesicles'''
** '''Transrectal ultrasonography'''
*** '''Appear hypoechoic, compared to the prostate,''' and are crescent-shaped, paired, and symmetrical.
*** '''AP diameter > 1.5cm is suggestive of ejaculatory duct obstruction, and may be the cause of low-volume azoospermia'''
*** '''A cystic SV mass is presumptively benign, whereas a solid lesion has a very small probability of being malignant, especially if the patient has a primary neoplasm elsewhere'''
**** '''Schistosomiasis should be considered when making a differential diagnosis in patients who live in areas where infestation is endemic and have a solid SV mass'''
*** '''An absent SV is associated with a 79% risk of ipsilateral renal agenesis'''
*** CT and MRI can also be used to image the seminal vesicles

== Questions ==

# What are the normal dimensions of the seminal vesicles?

== Answers ==

# What are the normal dimensions of the seminal vesicles?
#* Length 5-7cm
#* Width 1.5cm

== References ==

* Wein AJ, Kavoussi LR, Partin AW, Peters CA (eds): CAMPBELL-WALSH UROLOGY, ed 11. Philadelphia, Elsevier, 2015, chap 21