DISEASES

The structure of the prostate

Author: Dr. Lee
Clicks:
Time: 2011/2/24 13:59:14

The prostate gland is made up of glandular tissue and muscular tissue. The prostate is part of a man's reproductive system. The prostate gland is the size of a walnut.The transverse diameter of the prostate's extremitas posterior is about four centimeters, and the vertical diameter is about three centimeters, and anteroposterior diameter is about two centimeters. The prostate is surrounded by a thin layer of connective tissue that merges with surrounding soft tissues, which is called prostatic vesicle. There is veniplex between the prostate gland and prostatic vesicle. The prostate gland makes almost a third of the fluid in the semen that a man ejaculates.

The prostate gland wraps around male urethra just below the urinary bladder. A pair of ejaculatory ducts pass through the prostate, and empty into the urethra at the Colliculus seminalis. During ejaculation, semen passes through the ducts and exits the body via the penis. Generally, the prostate gland is made up of five lobes: anterior lobe, median lobe, posterior lobe and the two lateral lobes. The median lobe is wedge-shaped, locating between urethra and ejaculatory duct. Men over age 40 would have a greater risk of developing an enlarged prostate due to the obese median lobe. The enlarged prostate squeezes the urethra, which slows or stops the flow of urine, making it difficult for men to urinate, resulting in the symptoms such as frequent urination, straining to urinate, a weak urine stream, and a sensation that the bladder has not completely emptied.

As the root of the prostate gland is close to bladder neck, seminal vesicle and the ampullae of seminal duct, once the prostate gland is infected by bacteria, the seminal vesicle will be coinfected, and vesiculitis will also stimulate prostatitis. Therefore, prostatitis often amalgamates with vesiculitis. The prostate gland is found in front of the rectum and in back of the pubis symphysis.

The size of a child's prostate gland is rather small, and it increases quickly in latency period. When men are old, it deteriorates and atrophies. For instance, the connective tissue inside the gland proliferates, leading to enlarged prostate.

There is a thin layer of envelope on the surface of the prostate gland. This envelope has many elastic fibers and smooth muscles which pass through the gland. Actually, the prostate gland is made up of 30-50 compound tubularacinous glands, and there are 15-30 ducts ending in the sides of colliculus urethralis of urethra. According to their distribution, the gland is divided into mucous gland, submucosal gland, and master gland. Acinar epithelium is made up of simple cuboidal, simple columnar epithelium and pseudostratified epithelium, with much interstitial substance. Besides connective tissue, it also has elastic fibers and smooth muscles. The concretion is always found in the acinar cavity, which is the condensed secretion released by epithelium.

The prostatic fluid released by the prostate gland is the essential component of the semen. If the seminal fluid reduces due to prostatitis, the patients would have the lesion of nonliquefaction of the semen and poor activity of the sperm. So, the patients with prostatitis must promptly look for treatment, if not, it will lead to the serious consequence--male infertility.

YOU MAY INTERESTED