Urethral Grotto

The urethral-ureteric groove is a unique anatomical object that has not been fully studied by medicine and physiology until now. This groove is a narrow channel located on the inner surface of the wall of the male bladder at the bottom, separating the anterior urethra from the posterior wall of the bladder.

The groove is about 4-5 cm long and runs along the entire inner surface of the bladder from its bottom to the upper wall. It is formed by a fold of the bladder wall surrounding the groove, called the urethral mucosal lacunae. This lacunpa of the bladder (lacuna mucosa urethrae) consists of well-defined muscle fibers that form a powerful muscle - the muscle of the submucosa. The shape and location of the urethral groove varies from person to person. In some people, the philtrum may be very thin or even absent altogether. If a gutter is present, it can be quite large in size. Most often it is accompanied by large venous nodes and papillary accumulations. With excessive enlargement of the gutter, constant pain in the bladder and prostate area (prostate adenoma), urinary incontinence, nephrolithiasis (kidney stone disease) and other unpleasant symptoms are observed.

The morphological and anatomical features of urethral groove syndrome were likely associated with the intensity of sexual intercourse, as well as lifestyle factors such as diet, smoking and alcohol consumption.

The significant variety of anatomical variants of the grooves indicates the need for a more detailed study of this phenomenon, both by specialists in the field of medicine and urology, and by volunteer participants in the Humanoscan project. In the future, perhaps, urethral groove syndrome will serve as the basis for new methods of treating most diseases of the male genitourinary system (Prostate disease, prostate adenoma).