Radiology, Vol 159, 319-328, Copyright © 1986 by Radiological Society of North America
Extraperitoneal paravesical spaces: CT delineation with US correlation
YH Auh, WA Rubenstein, M Schneider, JM Reckler, JP Whalen and E Kazam
The extraperitoneal space around the urinary bladder is lamellate, just
like the retroperitoneal space around the kidneys. The bladder, urachus,
and obliterated umbilical arteries lie within the perivesical space,
surrounded by umbilicovesical fascia, analogous to the perinephric space
within the renal fascia. A much larger prevesical space, analogous to the
anterior pararenal space, lies anterior and lateral to the umbilicovesical
fascia. Posterior to the urinary bladder, the lower uterine segment or
seminal vesicles lie within the perivesical space, rather than in a
separate compartment, corresponding to the posterior pararenal space. The
cul-de-sac, and the inferolateral extension of its peritoneal layers as the
rectovaginal or rectovesical septum, separate the posterior perivesical
space from the rectum. The sectional anatomy of these spaces, and
particularly their computed tomographic and ultrasound appearances, were
noted in normal anatomic sections, patients with extraperitoneal fluid
collections, and a cadaver into which fluid was injected.
