Morphometric analysis of the gonadal veins in human foetuses

Professional literature data demonstrates morphometric features of the gonadal veins in adults. The length of the gonadal veins and their outlet angles in 130 human foetuses (71♂, 59♀), between the 4th and 6th month of prenatal life, were studied by means of anatomical, digital and statistical methods. In all specimens the left gonadal veins entered the left renal artery, and the right gonadal veins terminated in the inferior vena cava. In all age ranges the left gonadal veins were longer than the right ones (P⩽0.01), and the outlet angles of the left gonadal veins were larger than these angles on the right side (P⩽0.01). The correlation coefficient between the length of the left and right testicular veins was r1=0.975 (P⩽0.01). The correlation coefficients between the length of the testicular veins and foetal age were r2=0.591 for the right testicular vein and r3=0.578 for the left testicular vein (P⩽0.01). A low correlation between the outlet angles of the testicular veins and foetal age was observed, for the right side r4=0.187, and for the left side r5=0.177 (P⩽0.05). The correlation coefficient between the length of the left and right ovarian veins in foetuses aged 4-6 months was r6=0.855 (P⩽0.01). The correlation coefficients between the length of the ovarian veins and foetal age were r7=0.578 for the right ovarian vein and r8=0.566 for the left ovarian vein (P⩽0.01). No correlation between the outlet angles of the ovarian veins and foetal age was observed (P>0.05).