Prostatic venous plexus
{{more citations needed|date=April 2011}}
{{Infobox vein
| Name = Prostatic venous plexus
| Latin = plexus venosus prostaticus
| Image = Gray585.png
| Caption = The veins of the right half of the male pelvis. (Prostatic plexus labeled at bottom right.)
| Image2 =
| Caption2 =
| DrainsFrom = Prostate
| Source = Deep dorsal vein of the penis
| DrainsTo = Vesical venous plexus and pudendal plexus
| Artery =
}}
The prostatic veins form a well-marked prostatic plexus which lies partly in the fascial sheath of the prostate and partly between the sheath and the prostatic capsule.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}} It collects blood from the prostate, and (via the v. dorsalis profunda clitoridis) the corpora cavernosa of penis.{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1132300315 |title=Sobotta Anatomy Textbook - English Edition with Latin Nomenclature |others=Friedrich Paulsen, Tobias M. Böckers, J. Waschke, Stephan Winkler, Katja Dalkowski, Jörg Mair, Sonja Klebe, Elsevier ClinicalKey |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-7020-6760-0 |edition=1st |location=Munich |pages=397 |oclc=1132300315}} It communicates with the pudendal and vesical plexuses.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}
It is sometimes known as "Santorini's plexus", named for the Italian anatomist Giovanni Domenico Santorini.
Clinical significance
The prostatic venous plexus drains into the internal iliac vein which in turn connects with the vertebral venous plexus; this is thought to be the route of bone metastasis of prostate cancer.{{cite web | url = http://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/courses/path/gu/prostate3.cfm | title = Male Genitals - Prostate Neoplasms | access-date = 2011-04-28 | work = Pathology study images | publisher = University of Virginia School of Medicine | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110720193027/http://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/courses/path/gu/prostate3.cfm | archive-date = 2011-07-20 | quote = There are many connections between the prostatic venous plexus and the vertebral veins. The veins forming the prostatic plexus do not contain valves and it is thought that straining to urinate causes prostatic venous blood to flow in a reverse direction and enter the vertebral veins carrying malignant cells to the vertebral column. | url-status = dead }}
References
{{Gray's}}
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{SUNYAnatomyLabs|44|05|01|03}} - "The Male Pelvis: The Prostate Gland"
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