Post Date December, 03 2023
The prostate is the largest accessory gonad in the male reproductive organs. Its shape is like the size of a chestnut and weighs about 15g. The prostate is composed of muscle fibers and glands, with glands accounting for about 70% and muscle tissue accounting for about 30%. It is prostate scaffold tissue. The prostate is divided into five lobes: anterior, posterior, middle, left, and right. The left and right lobes are lateral. The two ejaculatory ducts and the urethra are called the middle lobe, and the posterior lobe is called the posterior lobe. The muscle fiber tissue in front of the urethra in both lobes is called the anterior lobe. In fact, there is no obvious boundary between the lobes. During digital rectal examination, there is a longitudinal shallow groove in the center of the lateral lobe, which is a sign of digital examination. "The prostate gland can secrete a milky liquid. During ejaculation, the prostate fluid, seminal vesicle fluid, epididymis, and sperm in the vas deferens are ejected from the body through the urethra along with the secretion of the urethral bulb gland. The prostate fluid accounts for about 15% to 30% of the total amount of ejaculation at a time.". Prostate fluid contains a particularly high concentration of acid phosphatase, and it also contains fibrinolytic enzymes to re liquefy frozen semen. Prostate fluid is alkaline and can buffer acidic secretions in the vagina to adapt to sperm survival and facilitate sperm activity.
In addition, prostate fluid contains a large amount of hyaluronidase, which makes it easy for sperm to pass through the cervical mucus plug and the colloidal gland of the egg, facilitating fertilization and implantation. Prostate gland has important clinical significance due to its anatomical location. "When men reach the age of 45, some begin to atrophy, but most (glandular tissue) become obese, affecting urination.". The veins of the prostate converge with the veins of the penis at the pubic prostate region to form a prostatic venous plexus, which is prone to bleeding during surgery and should be paid more attention. Prostate venous plexus is closely related to hemorrhoid veins, which is a pathway for prostate cancer metastasis and an important pathway for liver metastasis. Due to the existence of valveless venous communicating branches between the prostatic venous plexus and the epidural venous plexus, it is a pathway for vertebral metastasis of prostate cancer. Therefore, understanding the physiology and anatomy of the prostate is very helpful for the diagnosis and treatment of clinical diseases.
(Intern Editor: Cai Junyi)
