OBSERVATION OF TOPOGRAPHIC RELATION OF URETHRA, BLADDER, VAGINA AND UTERUS BY LATERAL X-RAY PROJECTION

REPORT II: A STUDY ON NORMAL PREGNANCY

Abstract

1. The lateral roentgenograms of the bladder show that the abdominal and the uterovesical portions of the bladder wall tend to approach the anatomical conjugation during pregnancy in contrast to the non-pregnant condition.
2. The lateral roentgenograms of the bladder during pregnancy show characteristic projection in each period of gestation due to the intra-uterine fetal position and attitude.
3. During pregnancy, the position of the external meatus in the lateral roentgenograms varies as gestation progresses.
There is a difinite tendency for the meatus to shift in parallel with the anatomical conjugation, but not in a vertical (sagittal) direction, i. e. moves down-ward.
4. Similarly, the position of the internal meatus varies as the fetus approaches maturity. There is no difinite tendency of mobility in a parallel direction to the anatomical conjugation, but it approaches the sacrum in a vertical direction (sagittal), i. e. posteriorly.
5. The range of mobility of the positions of the external and internal meatuses with change of position during pregnancy is the same as that in non-pregnant condition. The range of mobility of the external meatus in a parallel direction to the anatomical conjugation is greater than that of the internal meatus, and in a vertical direction less than that of the internal meatus.
In other words, the range of mobility of the internal meatus in a vertical direction to the anatomical conjugation (sagittal direction) is greater than that of the external meatus and in a parallel (upper and down ward) diretion less than that of the external meatus.