[Scanning electron microscopy of the human spermatic tract].

The human excurrent duct system of the testis (rete testis, ductuli efferentes, ductus epididymis and vas deferens) have been studied by the S.E.M. The specimens have been taken from subjects who underwent surgery for prostatic carcinoma. For the S.E.M. the specimens have been prepared according to usual techniques: fixed with 2.5% glutaraldehyde and 1% OsO4 in Millonig's buffer, dehydrated in ethanol, dried by the critical point technique in CO2 and coated with gold-palladium 10%. The cavities of the rete testis show a flat epithelium with short microvilli and single cilia. The ductuli efferentes are lined by long-ciliated columnar elements and by stubby elements provided with microvilli. Globular extrusions, probably representing the swollen apices of epithelial cells, have been interpretated like the expression of a secretory activity. The ductus epididymis is lined by high columnar epithelium provided with thick microvilli. In the lumen it is possible to observe little globular masses with variable diameters, isolated or more often grape-shaped. These have been interpretated as the expression of secretory activity microapocrine in nature. The vas deferens is bounded with columnar epithelial cells with variable morphology. Some of them, infact, have crowded microvilli, while some others have swollen apices bulging into the lumen. These globular extrusions are probably the expression of the secretory activity.