Pelvic organ venous communications. Anatomy and role in urogenital diseases; a new technique of cystovaginohysterography.

A study of the communicating veins between the venous plexuses of the pelvic organs was performed on 21 female cadavers. Thirteen cadavers were studied radiologically after being injected with barium sulfate and 8 were examined after injection of a plastic material. Two groups of communicating veins could be recognized: rectovaginal and vaginovesical; their anatomic features are described. The communicating veins were unidirectional; they transmitted the dye from the rectal to the vaginovesical plexuses, but not in the reverse direction. A new concept was proposed to explain the high Escherichia coli incidence in genitourinary infections. It explains also the cause of some of the idiopathic genitourinary lesions such as recurrent cervicitis and recurrent bacteriuria. A "cystovaginohysterography" could be obtained by injecting the inferior mesenteric vein with barium sulfate. The rectogenital communicating veins have been used in both the diagnosis and the treatment of lesions in pelvic organs.