European Urology

Three-dimensional computer-assisted anatomic dissection from transverse immunolabelled histologic sections of a cadaver of a 74-yr-old man. (A) Superior view of intrapelvic organs showing supralevator and the distal part of infralevator neurovascular pathways; (B) same view without the pelvic diaphragm (PD), the pudendal vessels (Pud.), and the venous plexus (VP). The pudendal nerve (PN) innervates the urethral sphincter (US) before becoming the dorsal nerve of the penis (DNP). Branches from the PN intermingle with the cavernous nerves, forming a caverno-pudendal distal communication (black arrows). The neurovascular bundles (NVBs) are located in their classical position, posterolateral to the base of the prostate (P). Nerve fibres are also found in anterior and anterolateral (ant. lat.) positions, following the lateral edges of a triangle (black triangle) with its tip at the apex of the prostate. (C) Right anterolateral and (D) left anterolateral views of the supralevator nerve pathways. The NVBs contain two divisions: the cavernous nerves (CNs), forming a continuation of the anterolateral fibres extending towards the corpora cavernosa (CC) and the penile hilum, and the corpus spongiosum nerves (CSNs), which represent the distal course of the posterolateral (post. lat.) NVBs reaching the corpus spongiosum bulb (CS).