Ipsi- and contralateral anastomosis of the uterine arteries

摘要

In vitro perfusion technique and plastic cast injection methods were utilized to study the ipsi- and contralateral anastomosis of the human uterine arteries. The perfusion method repeatedly illustrated the abundant contralateral communications around the cervical region of the uterus. Superficial contralateral anastomosis within the peritoneal coverings was observed in the fundic region of the uterus. Any other myometrial midline crossing of vessels was not reproducible probably due to the specific distortion caused by the leiomyomas of these operatively excised specimens. The plastic cast technique succeeded in mapping out the three-dimensional arterial tree of the uterus. With simultaneous injection into the right and left uterine arteries, and using differently colored plastic on each side, the two-color plastic junction points appeared in the midsagittal plane, and the interarterial anastomosis was clearly visible throughout the entire length of the uterus. This technique exhibited many arterioles traversing into the contralateral side. Furthermore, an extremely dense capillary network with contralateral anastomosis was apparent and distributed according to the multiple-layer organization of the myometrium. Postmenopausal uteri elicited a paramedial arteriole zigzagging across the midline of the posterior wall of the uterus. This type of arteriole was not observed in this study in any of the uteri of females of childbearing age.