Rectoprostatic fascia
Appearance
Rectoprostatic fascia | |
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![]() Rectoprostatic fascia | |
Details | |
Identifiers | |
Latin | fascia rectoprostatica |
TA98 | A04.5.03.004M |
TA2 | 3831 |
FMA | 19933 |
Anatomical terminology |
The rectoprostatic fascia (Denonvilliers' fascia) is a membranous partition at the lowest part of the rectovesical pouch. It separates the prostate and urinary bladder from the rectum.[1] It consists of a single fibromuscular structure with several layers that are fused together and covering the seminal vesicles. It is also called Denonvilliers' fascia after French anatomist and surgeon Charles-Pierre Denonvilliers.[2]
The structure corresponds to the rectovaginal fascia in the female. The rectoprostatic fascia also inhibits the posterior spread of prostatic adenocarcinoma; therefore invasion of the rectum is less common than is invasion of other contiguous structures.
References
[edit]- ^ "Dorland's Medical Dictionary". Retrieved 2007-12-11.
- ^ Denonvilliers' fascia at Who Named It?