Anatomy of the female pelvic nerves: a macroscopic study of the hypogastric plexus and their relations and variations.

The autonomic nerves of the lesser pelvis are particularly prone to iatrogenic lesions due to their exposed position during manifold surgical interventions. Nevertheless, the cause of rectal and urinary incontinence or sexual dysfunctions, for example after rectal cancer resection or hysterectomy, remains largely understudied, particularly with regard to the female pelvic autonomic plexuses. This study focused on the macroscopic description of the superior hypogastric plexus, hypogastric nerves, inferior hypogastric plexus, the parasympathetic pelvic splanchnic nerves and the sympathetic fibres. Their arrangement is described in relation to commonly used surgical landmarks such as the sacral promontory, ureters, uterosacral ligaments, uterine and rectal blood vessels. Thirty-one embalmed female pelvises from 20 formalin-fixed and 11 Thiel-fixed cadavers were prepared. In all cases explored, the superior hypogastric plexus was situated anterior to the bifurcation of the abdominal aorta. In 60% of specimens, it reached the sacral promontory, whereas in 40% of specimens, it continued across the pelvic brim until S1. In about 25% of the subjects, we detected an accessory hypogastric nerve, which has not been systematically described so far. It originated medially from the inferior margin of the superior hypogastric plexus and continued medially into the presacral space. The existence of an accessory hypogastric nerve was confirmed during laparoscopy and by histological examination. The inferior hypogastric plexuses formed fan-shaped plexiform structures at the end of both hypogastric nerves, exactly at the junction of the ureter and the posterior wall of the uterine artery at the uterosacral ligament. In addition to the pelvic splanchnic nerves from S2-S4, which joined the inferior hypogastric plexus, 18% of the specimens in the present study revealed an additional pelvic splanchnic nerve originating from the S1 sacral root. In general, form, breadth and alignment of the autonomic nerves displayed large individual variations, which could also have a clinical impact on the postoperative function of the pelvic organs. The study serves as a basis for future investigations on the autonomic innervation of the female pelvic organs.

The anatomy of the male inferior hypogastric plexus: What should we know for nerve sparing surgery.

The aim of this study was to investigate the nerve supply to the structures in the male lesser pelvis and review its clinical relevance, especially during nerve sparing surgery. Three formalin-embalmed and 16 Thiel-embalmed male hemipelves were used. They were microdissected after repeated treatments with nitric acid diluted 1:10 with milliQ-water. The inferior hypogastric plexus (IHP) is a fan-like structure lateral from the rectum on the fascia of the levator ani. Nerves emerging from the proximal, solid part of the plexus follow the internal iliacal vessels and reach the prostate from dorsolateral. The innervation of the urethra and the corpora cavernosa derives from two origins: one follows the ejaculatory duct and the seminal vesicle, reaching the proximal urethra and the prostate from dorsal; the other follows the inferior vesical artery to reach the prostate from lateral, and then forms the neurovascular bundle on both sides of the prostatic fascia, spreading to the pelvic floor muscles and the corpora cavernosa along with the distal urethra. A connection between the two parts was demonstrated in approximately one third of the samples investigated. The nerve supply to the urinary bladder, the urethra, and the corpora cavernosa emerges mainly from the IHP. The innervation of the proximal urethra and its autonomic muscular structures has a dorsal (ejaculatory duct) and lateral (inferior vesical artery) origin. To maintain good erectile and continence function it is important to save both the dorsal and lateral neurovascular roots. Clin. Anat. 31:788-796, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cutting-edge microangio-CT: new dimensions in vascular imaging and kidney morphometry.

In the last decades, the contrast-enhanced micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) imaging of a whole animal kidney became increasingly important. The visualization was mainly limited to middle-sized vessels. Since modern desktop micro-CT scanners provide the necessary detail resolution, we developed an approach for rapid visualization and consistent assessment of kidney vasculature and glomeruli number. This method is based on µAngiofil, a new polymerizing contrast agent with homogenous X-ray absorption, which provides continuous filling of the complete vasculature and enables correlative imaging approaches. For rapid and reliable kidney morphometry, the microangio-CT (µaCT) data sets from glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF)+/- mice and their wild-type littermates were used. The results were obtained much faster compared with the current gold standard, histology-based stereology, and without processing artifacts. The histology-based morphometry was done afterward on the same kidneys. Both approaches revealed that the GDNF+/- male mice had about 40% fewer glomeruli. Furthermore, our approach allows for the definition of sites of interest for further histological investigation, i.e., correlative morphology. The polymerized µAngiofil stays in perfused vessels and is autofluorescent, which is what greatly facilitates the matching of histological sections with µaCT data. The presented approach is a time-efficient, reliable, qualitative, and quantitative methodology. Besides glomerular morphometry, the µaCT data can be used for qualitative and quantitative analysis of the kidney vasculature and correlative morphology.

Different stages in drug development for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) is a highly aggressive disease. Despite optimal therapy, half of the patients will succumb to disease. This prognosis could not be improved over the last three decades. Therefore, MIBC is left behind from other cancers such as prostate, where novel treatment options were discovered and improve patient outcomes. While being aware of the recent emerging evidence of checkpoint inhibition in MIBC, we aim to describe different stages of drug development in MIBC by using three specific targets. On the example of Her2 targeting, we aimed to indicate, that either a target is ineffective in MIBC or that the patient selection is insufficient. The first clinical trials using a pan fibroblast growth factor receptor (panFGFR) inhibitor to target the FGFR pathway showed promising results. Data of further trials are to be awaited before implementing these drugs into daily clinical practice. A large variety of novel agents are investigated in vitro and in vivo. On the example of a malaria protein, we aimed to discuss a treatment paradigm that is not dependent on pathway signaling and the genomic landscape of MIBC. The ultimate question still remains to be answered: How do we select the optimal treatment for the right patient?

Combined maceration procedure permits advanced microsurgical dissection of Thiel-embalmed specimens.

INTRODUCTION: Due to the realistic colour, texture conservation and preservation of biomechanical properties, Thiel-embalming is becoming the main embalming procedure for clinical courses and research based on human cadaver material. The aim of this study is to establish a new procedure that allows advanced microdissection of small vessels and intraorganic nerves in Thiel-embalmed material. MATERIAL AND METHODS/RESULTS: After a classical gross anatomical dissection, human hemipelves underwent repetitive application of 3 consecutive steps: (i) maceration with alloy of nitric acid and MiliQ water 1:10 for 24-48h. (ii) Immersion: the hemipelves were rinsed under tap water for 20-30min. and placed in a water bath for 1h. The nerves become more prominent due to the swelling and increased water content. (iii) microdissection under surgical microscope. To facilitate the organ visualization perfusion with polyurethane (Pu4ii, VasQtec®, Switzerland) in red/blue for arteries/veins respectively has been performed. CONCLUSION: By using the proposed procedure, we performed satisfactory microdissection on Thiel-embalmed samples. The combination with polyurethane vascular casting permits visualization of small arterioles and venules in a range of 20-25µm. The method is very suitable for demonstration of somatic and vegetative nerves. Branches of the sacral plexuses and autonomic nerves from the superior and inferior hypogastric plexus have been tracked up to the smallest intraorganic branches in a range of 12.5-15µm. In conclusion, the established combined procedure offers a new possibility for advanced microdissection, which will allow acquisition of clinically relevant information about organ specific micro- vascularization and innervation.