A CORRELATIVE INVESTIGATION OF HUMAN RECTOVAGINAL SEPTUM

Anatomists and gynecologists have debated the existence of a rectovaginal septum in the human female. In this investigation the connective tissue between the vagina and rectum has been reexamined by both dissection and light microscopy in four specimen types. Specimens studied and compared totaled 143 and represent an age range of from eight fetal weeks to 100 years. Included were specimens from patients with different degrees of parity and both normal and abnormal pelvic visceral support. It has been shown that a definite rectovaginal septum exists in the human female and it is probably the homologue of the male rectovesical septum. The septum is well formed by the fourteenth fetal week and consists of a thin vertical sheet of dense connective tissue which is translucent in the fresh state. In the coronal plane the septum parallels the sacral curvature. It also curves posterolaterally to become fused with the parietal endopelvic fascia. The septum extends inferiorly from the rectouterine peritoneal pouch to the perineal body. It is usually adherent to the posterior aspect of the vaginal connective tissue, capsule. This adherence, together with the difficulty in identifying it histologically may explain why the existence of the rectovaginal septum has been denied. Copyright © 1969 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.