Bladder

A lot of controversy continues regarding the development of human penile urethra. Posterior urethral valves are congenital disorder and can only seen in male infants.  It caused by failure of regression of the mesonephric duct.  Most of cases PUV’s a sporadic and only occur in males, evidence suggests that they can be found in siblings or twins in a family. If PUV’s are not diagnosed and treated early they can cause damage in the ureters, urethra, bladder and kidney, constraints lung developments cause of low quantity of amniotic fluid. PUV’s are commonly diagnosed prior to birth or at birth when a male infant is evaluated for antennal hydronephrosis.

Intraluminal optical coherence tomography (OCT) applies coherent light to provide cross-sectional images with a spatial resolution of 10–25 μm. We compared OCT and matching whole-mount histology microscopy sections of porcine upper ureters ex vivo for visualization and delineation of different tissue layers of the ureteral wall. Porcine ureters (six specimens, 24 quadrants) were flushed with normal saline solution prior to insertion of the OCT catheter (diameter, 0.014 inch, OCT wavelength, 1,300±20 nm). Cross-sectional OCT images were obtained in marked locations before specimens were fixed in 4% formalin, cut at marked locations, whole-mounted, and stained with hematoxilin and eosin. Visualization and delineation of different tissue layers of the ureteral wall by OCT was compared with matching histology by two independent observers (O1,O2). OCT distinguished tissue layers of the ureteral wall in all quadrants. In OCT images, O1/O2 delineated urothelium and lamina propria in 23/24 quadrants, lamina propria and muscle layer in 19/16 quadrants, inner and outer muscle layer in 13/0 quadrants, and urothelial cell layers in 13/2 quadrants, respectively. Intraluminal OCT provides histology-like images of the ureter in porcine specimens ex vivo and reliably distinguishes between urothelium and deeper tissue layers of the ureteral wall.