Editorial Comment: Testicular descent revisited: a micro-computed tomography study in fetal rats

Favorito, Luciano A.

doi:10.1590/S1677-5538.IBJU.2023.04.05

Moritz Markel ¹ 1 Department of Pediatric Surgery, University of Leipzig, Liebigstrasse 20a, 04103, Leipzig, Germany , Nicole Peukert ² 2 Department of Pediatric Surgery, University of Leipzig, Liebigstrasse 20a, 04103, Leipzig, Germany , Marco Ginzel ³ 3 Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Paracelsus Medical University Hospital, Salzburg, Austria , Rainer Haak ⁴ 4 Department of Cariology, Endodontology and Periodontology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany , Steffi Mayer ² 2 Department of Pediatric Surgery, University of Leipzig, Liebigstrasse 20a, 04103, Leipzig, Germany , Martin Lacher ² 2 Department of Pediatric Surgery, University of Leipzig, Liebigstrasse 20a, 04103, Leipzig, Germany , et al.

Surg Int. 2023 Mar 8;39(1):149.

COMMENT

Testicular Migration is a complex process with a great importance for understood the testicular anomalies. This process has two phases: (a) Abdominal stage – Testicular migration from the abdomen to the internal inguinal ring that begins around the 8th WPC and lasts until the 15th WPC and (b) Inguino-scrotal stage - Transition of the testes through the inguinal canal until their definitive arrival in the scrotum that begins around the 20th WPC and lasts until the 30th WPC (¹1 Hutson JM, Balic A, Nation T, Southwell B. Cryptorchidism. Semin Pediatr Surg. 2010;19:215-24., ²2 Heyns CF, Hutson JM. Historical review of theories on testicular descent. J Urol. 1995;153(3 Pt 1):754-67.). There are several factor involved in this process and the most important are the hormonal stimulus, the role of intra-abdominal pressure and the development of the gubernaculum testis (³3 Benzi TC, Logsdon NT, Sampaio FJB, Favorito LA. Testicular arteries anatomy applied to fowler-sthephens surgery in high undescended testis - a narrative review. Int Braz J Urol. 2022;48:8-17.–⁵5 Favorito LA, Costa SF, Julio-Junior HR, Sampaio FJ. The importance of the gubernaculum in testicular migration during the human fetal period. Int Braz J Urol. 2014;40:722-9.). The gubernaculum seems to be the most important anatomical structure in the testicular migration process, by means of contraction and shortening, thus imposing traction strength on the testis and facilitates the transition of the testis by through the inguinal canal (⁵5 Favorito LA, Costa SF, Julio-Junior HR, Sampaio FJ. The importance of the gubernaculum in testicular migration during the human fetal period. Int Braz J Urol. 2014;40:722-9.).

In the present study (⁶6 Markel M, Peukert N, Ginzel M, Haak R, Mayer S, Lacher M, et al. Testicular descent revisited: a micro-computed tomography study in fetal rats. Pediatr Surg Int. 2023;39:149.) the authors in an elegant study analyzed the role of the gubernaculum and the development of the processus vaginalis peritonei with Micro-computed tomography (μCT) in rodents. The μCT imaging confirmed the intraperitoneal location of the testicles from from embryonic day 15 to newborns. The components of the inner genital moved closer together while the intestinal volume expanded. The gubernacular bulb seemed to be involved in the formation of the processus vaginalis peritonei. The authors shows in this interesting paper new morphologic aspects on the development of the processus vaginalis peritonei.

REFERENCES

¹
Hutson JM, Balic A, Nation T, Southwell B. Cryptorchidism. Semin Pediatr Surg. 2010;19:215-24.
²
Heyns CF, Hutson JM. Historical review of theories on testicular descent. J Urol. 1995;153(3 Pt 1):754-67.
³
Benzi TC, Logsdon NT, Sampaio FJB, Favorito LA. Testicular arteries anatomy applied to fowler-sthephens surgery in high undescended testis - a narrative review. Int Braz J Urol. 2022;48:8-17.
⁴
Favorito LA, Sampaio FJ, Javaroni V, Cardoso LE, Costa WS. Proximal insertion of gubernaculum testis in normal human fetuses and in boys with cryptorchidism. J Urol. 2000;164(3 Pt 1):792-4.
⁵
Favorito LA, Costa SF, Julio-Junior HR, Sampaio FJ. The importance of the gubernaculum in testicular migration during the human fetal period. Int Braz J Urol. 2014;40:722-9.
⁶
Markel M, Peukert N, Ginzel M, Haak R, Mayer S, Lacher M, et al. Testicular descent revisited: a micro-computed tomography study in fetal rats. Pediatr Surg Int. 2023;39:149.

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
14 Aug 2023
Date of issue
Jul-Aug 2023

History

Received
05 Apr 2023
Accepted
10 Apr 2023
Published
15 May 2023

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

[1] ¹
Hutson JM, Balic A, Nation T, Southwell B. Cryptorchidism. Semin Pediatr Surg. 2010;19:215-24.

[2] ²
Heyns CF, Hutson JM. Historical review of theories on testicular descent. J Urol. 1995;153(3 Pt 1):754-67.

[3] ³
Benzi TC, Logsdon NT, Sampaio FJB, Favorito LA. Testicular arteries anatomy applied to fowler-sthephens surgery in high undescended testis - a narrative review. Int Braz J Urol. 2022;48:8-17.

[4] ⁴
Favorito LA, Sampaio FJ, Javaroni V, Cardoso LE, Costa WS. Proximal insertion of gubernaculum testis in normal human fetuses and in boys with cryptorchidism. J Urol. 2000;164(3 Pt 1):792-4.

[5] ⁵
Favorito LA, Costa SF, Julio-Junior HR, Sampaio FJ. The importance of the gubernaculum in testicular migration during the human fetal period. Int Braz J Urol. 2014;40:722-9.

[6] ⁶
Markel M, Peukert N, Ginzel M, Haak R, Mayer S, Lacher M, et al. Testicular descent revisited: a micro-computed tomography study in fetal rats. Pediatr Surg Int. 2023;39:149.

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