The suspensory apparatus of the female bladder neck.
Lateral cystourethrograms have shown a forwards-downwards displacement of the bladder neck in bladder base insufficiency, a type of stress incontinence. In search for the structure which in normal subjects prevents this displacement, a series of 10 dissections of the female pelvic floor was undertaken. The formerly described structures: The pubo-vesical ligaments and the precervical arc are shown. As a new finding it is demonstrated how these structures are dependent on an upwards-backwards suspension by a strong ligament in the fascia over the levator muscle.
D003371:Cough / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology