Arteria uterina ovarica : the utero-ovarian artery, or, the genital vascular circle, anatomy and physiology, with their application in diagnosis and surgical intervention / Byron Robinson.

  • Robinson, Byron (Fred Byron), 1857?-1910.
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Arteria uterina ovarica : the utero-ovarian artery, or, the genital vascular circle, anatomy and physiology, with their application in diagnosis and surgical intervention / Byron Robinson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Fig. 19.—A reproduction of an X-ray of a uterus pregnant several months. I injected it m situ at the post-mortem with red lead and starch. It shows well the pelvic floor segment of the utero-ovarian vascular circle, or circle of the author. Divisions of the spiral segment of the circle: (1) Pelvic floor segment, 1, 2, 3, 4; (2) uterine segment, 4, 5, 6; (3) oviducal segment, 6, 7-7, 9; 6, 8-8, 9; (4) ovarian segment, 9, 10, II, 12; (5) round ligament segment, 13, 14, 15. Important locations of the spiral segment: Arterio-ureteral loop, 2; cervical loop, 3; arterio-ureteral crossings; distal, 2; middle, 18; proximal, 11; cervico- vaginal artery, 22; oligemic zones: (a.) central longitudinal axis, (b) lateral cervical border, and (c) fundus. Spiral segment (utero-ovarian artery), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7-7, 8-8, 9, 10, 11, 12 (13, 14, is). Straight segment of the circle, abdominal aorta, common and internal iliac, 16, 17, 18. Lateral arteries: Uterus, 22, 23, 24; oviduct, 31, 32, 33; ovary, 34, 36, 38. Cervico-vaginal artery, 22. Ureter, 20, 19. Vaginal arteries, 25, 26. The utero-ovarian vascular circle or circle of the author is here represented without a personal equation. It is an X-ray, and therefore an exact representation from nature. The oviducts, a part of the menstrual organ (which is the uterus and ovi- ducts), may perform their regular periodic rhythmic function because the genital vascular circle may still pass through its monthly cycle of engorgement, the rami laterales oviductus and rami laterales ovarii being still intact. The genital circle left undivided will allow the ovaries—organs of progressive function from before birth until the ovarian tissue is worn out—to functionate normally until their tissue stroma yields to senile processes. The universal rule of surgery is to sacri- fice no healthy organs or tissue. The suggestions brought about by a study of the genital vascular circle will aid to prevent sacrificing genital organs or even genital tissue. Thomas Willis (1622-1673), an English anatomist and philosopher, described at the base of the brain a vascular circle which has since borne his name. It is important in neurology, as the variation in blood supply to the brain, to a certain extent, governs many cerebral phenomena. In what I shall term the genital vascular circle, or the utero-ovarian vascular circle, we have a vastly more important circle, as work involving the utero-ovarian vascular circle is of much greater utility in medicine and surgery than that per- taining to the circle of Willis. The value of research work is the good which can be accomplished by it, and not simply the knowledge of the facts. Research work on these two important circles demonstrates the fact of the greater practical utility of the genital vascular circle. The straight segment of the circle does not, prac- tically, concern gynecologists. It is the tortuous or spiral segment of the utero- ovarian vascular circle which plays such an important role in gynecology. The spiral segment consists of the anastomosed tortuous uterine, ovarian and round ligament arteries. The tortuous segment allows wide range of motion to the uterus, proximally to the diaphragm, laterally to the lateral abdominal walls, and its chief utility in surgery is that this tortuous segment can be drawn distallv suf- ficiently to enable the surgeon to ligate both uterine and ovarian arteries outside of the pudendum. The spiral condition of the utero-ovarian vascular circle allows sudden and extensive range of movements of the uterus as in pregnancy, in the activity of bodily movements and in the use of traction forceps on the uterus. The