The veins of the spermatic cord are abnormally wide and tortuous in both primary and secondary varicocele. The primary form is by far the more common; among the causes of secondary varicocele are renal tumor (SPITTEL et coIl. 1959), hydronephrosis (WHITE 1914), aberrant renal artery (CAMPBELL 1944), and arching of the spermatic artery over the renal vein (NOTKOVICH 1955). The pathogenesis of primary variococele has not been clarified. BRODNY et coIl. (1955) stated that it most often starts at puberty and occurs in about 10 % of the male population, on the left side in about 90 %, bilaterally in 8 % and on the right side in 2 % of these. The clinical importance and treatment of the condition as well as the pathogenesis are dealt with in another report by the present authors (FRITjOFSSON et coll.).The scrotal veins may be considered as lying in two groups: a deep group and a surface network group (JAVERT & CLARK 1944). The deep system comprises the pampiniform plexus, the internal and external spermatic veins and the ductus deferens veins. The pampiniform plexus consists of a network of veins which originate in the testis and epididymis; it is drained by the three aforementioned larger vessels. The internal spermatic vein passes through the
The roentgenologic and anatomical appearances of the left gonadal vein were discussed by the present authors in two previous papers (1965). It was stated in the first paper that at aortography retrograde contrast filling of the left gonadal vein occurred in men as well as in women and this was considered in relation to the anatomical conditions present in an autopsy material. An absence of valves or incompetent valves in the cranial portion of the gonadal vein existed in more than half of the cases, equally divided according to sex. Valves were more often absent in the men while the women more often had incompetent valves. The width of the left gonadal vein was more closely analyzed in the second paper; the mean circumference figures indicated that the ovarian vein was significantly wider than the spermatic vein and that pregnancy was a contributory factor in this difference. The close relationship between pregnancy and permanent widening of the ovarian vein was discussed. HODGKINSON (1953) measured the width of the ovarian vein during operation in 8 pregnant women. These measurements were made in 6 instances on the left side, in one on the right and in one instance bilaterally; in all of them the
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