the Lobes of the Human Prostate

Abstract

A dissection technique for the huamn prostate has been developed on about one hundred male autopsies, which makes it possible to delimit two dorsal, two lateral and two median lobes, each with separate ducts. It was found that both the dorsal lobesand the lateral lobes join dorsally to the ejaculatory ducts. The median lobes are situated below the medial parts of the seminal vesicles, and are closely apposed both ventrally and dorsally of the ejaculatory ducts. The ability to delimit the prostatic lobes in man may offer new opportunities to study the relation of prostatic diseases to different lobes as well as the hormonal dependency of the separate lobes.

Making anatomic terminology of the prostate and contiguous structures clinically useful: Historical review and suggestions for revision in the 21st Century

“…Dealing with the issue of lobes has been difficult enough. It is noteworthy that Tisell and Salander (1975) spent 15-20 hr dissecting out lobes in their first cadaveric attempt and after ''about 100 cases'' they were able to reduce that time to 2-3 hr in their last 20 dissections. Furthermore, they cited multiple articles claiming ''that it is impossible to define lobes,'' including the skepticism surrounding Lowsley's (1912) embryologically derived lobar architecture.…”

“…Furthermore, they cited multiple articles claiming ''that it is impossible to define lobes,'' including the skepticism surrounding Lowsley's (1912) embryologically derived lobar architecture. To further segment lobes into lobules was not considered at that time (Tisell and Salander, 1975).…”

Structure of the adult prostate from a clinician's standpoint

“…The work of Tisell and Salander (1975) would appear to be an overzealous attempt to corroborate in the adult the findings of Lowsley (1912) in the embryo. Lowsley found five sets of ducts entering the embryonic urethra: two sets, one lateral to the urethra on each side, one set posterior or dorsal, one set median (between the ejaculatory ducts), and one set anterior.…”

“…In his experience of many years, no amount of gross dissection of radical prostatectomy specimens or histologic section of freshly fixed adult nonhyperplastic prostates produced any semblance of a lobar or lobular architecture, in direct repudiation of Tisell and Salander (1975).…”

“…" How can such findings be viewed with anything more than extreme skepticism? The follow-up study (Salander et al, 1981) that included the histology lacking in their first study (Tisell and Salander, 1975) sought to "emphasize that the human prostate cannot be looked upon as a homogeneous organ." Although they claimed to find intralobar fibrous strands, their "transverse gigant section" was hardly convincing.…”