Seminal Vesicles

Examination and Investigation

Physical examination of the seminal glands through digital rectal examination (DRE) is difficult. A laboratory investigation of fructose levels in a sperm specimen may provide indirect evidence of seminal vesicle dysfunction, obstruction or congenital absence.

N - memory aid

Point and Shoot to remember this. Erection, or pointing, receives parasympathetic innervation, while ejaculation (including contraction of the smooth muscle of the seminal vesicles) receives sympathetic innervation.

Embryology - memory aid

SEED Seminal glands, along with the Ejaculatory ducts, Epididymis and Ductus (vas) deferens, are derived from the mesonephric ducts, the precursor structure of male internal genitalia.

Anatomical Position

between the bladder fundus and the rectum (separated from the latter by the rectovesicle pouch and the rectoprostatic fascia). most important anatomical relation is with the vas deferens, which combine with the duct of the seminal vesicles to form the ejaculatory duct, which subsequently drains into the prostatic urethra.

vessels

erived from the inferior vesicle, internal pudendal and middle rectal arteries, all of which stem from the internal iliac artery.

LN

external and internal iliac lymph nodes.

Function

fluids contain: Alkaline fluid - neutralises the acidity of the male urethra and vagina in order to facilitate the survival of spermatozoa. Fructose - provides an energy source for spermatozoa. Prostaglandins - have a role in suppressing the female immune response to foreign semen. Clotting factors - designed to keep semen in the female reproductive tract post-ejaculation.

STRUCTURE

honeycombed, lobulated structure with a mucosa lined by pseudostratified columnar epithelium. These columnar cells are highly influenced by testosterone, growing taller with higher levels, and are responsible for the production of seminal secretions.