ISSN:
0003-276X
Keywords:
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Light and electron microscopic studies of the spermatic granuloma of the rat vas deferens which arises post-vasectomy were undertaken to determine if such granulomata exhibit the morphological features typical of granulomata described in other systems. Vasectomy was performed utilizing a technique of division and fulguration, and tissues for study were fixed in situ by means of vascular perfusion at 2, 4, or 12 weeks post-operatively. Invariably, a spermatic granuloma formed at the testicular end of the sectioned vas by 2 weeks post-vasectomy. At the time periods studied, the granulomata exhibited a cellular wall of variable thickness and complexity surrounding a central mass of sperm. This wall consistently was divisible into (1) a loosely arranged interface region populated by neutrophils and other spermiophagic cells, and (2) a more peripheral, compactly arranged region populated primarily by macrophages and epithelioid cells. Multinucleate giant cells were especially prominent in the later stages studied. Peripheral to the wall, but without an intervening basal lamina, lay a loosely organized, highly vascular connective tissue region containing only sparse collagen and few fibrocytes. Here, too, macrophages, epithelioid cells, lymphocytes, and plasma cells were noted in abundance. A well-developed capsule composed of fibrocytes, collagenous bundles, and smooth muscle cells surrounded the granuloma. Such features conform to those descriptions in the literature of chronic granulomatous inflammation.
Additional Material:
16 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ar.1091980308
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