Rationale and definition of the lateral extension of the inguinal lymphadenectomy for vulvar cancer derived from an embryological and anatomical study.

Background And Objectives: The objective of the present study was to define the location of the most lateral superficial inguinal node lying along the inguinal ligament, through an embryological and anatomotopographical study, in order to rationalize the lateral extension of the groin lymphadenectomy in vulvar cancer.

Methods: Sections of the upper portion of the femoral triangle belonging to three human fetuses, whose crown-rump (CR) length ranged from 70 to 310 mm, corresponding to a developmental age of 11 and 35 weeks, were studied. In addition, for an objective topographical evaluation of the disposition of the superficial inguinal lymph nodes, adult cadavers photographs of dissected Scarpa's triangle, reported in anatomical atlases, were analyzed.

Relationships between gastric development and anatomic bases of radical surgery for cancer.

The aim of this study was to determine with all possible accuracy the processes of embryologic development of the stomach and its lymphatics in order to confirm their supposed link with the modern anatomic bases of gastric cancer surgery. The knowledge of the anatomic behavior of the peritoneal folds and of the lymphatic drainage of the stomach is, in fact, considered the essential basis for the comprehension of the oncologic dissection of the stomach. The study was based on reconstruction of serial histologic sections of 9 human embryos and 8 human fetuses regarding the mesogastric area, as well as anatomic microdissection of 2 9-month fetuses.