Clinical Significance of the Paraurethral Ducts and Glands

THE DETAILED anatomy of the paraurethral ducts and glands has been described in a previous contribution.¹At that time it was shown by serial section wax model reconstructions that the normal female urethra is surrounded by a labyrinthine mass of paraurethral tubules, canaliculi and glandular elements. These structures are homologs of the prostate.²While they are vestigial in the female, they may at times give rise to pathologic entities of clinical significance. Historically, it is of interest to note that Regeneri de Graaf described³and illustrated (fig. 1) a glandlike structure about the female urethra which he called a female prostate. Alexander Skene⁴drew attention to two paraurethral ducts (Skene's ducts) and emphasized their importance in infections of the female genitalia. Skene's contribution was based on anatomic studies, and the illustrations (fig. 2) accompanying it are still the basis for most of the descriptions in modern