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Dartos reflex: a sympathetically mediated scrotal reflex
Ugur Yilmaz1, Claire C Yang, Richard E Berger
1Department of Urology, Box 356510, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-6510, USA.
Muscle & Nerve
|November 25, 2005
Summary
Researchers identified a new dartos reflex (DR) to assess sympathetic nerve pathways. This reliable reflex test evaluates the genitofemoral nerve and scrotal autonomic innervation in men.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Urology
- Autonomic Nervous System Research
Background:
- The dartos muscle, a sympathetically innervated layer in the scrotum, plays a role in thermoregulation.
- Its function is distinct from the somatically innervated cremasteric muscle.
- Assessing the integrity of autonomic pathways to the scrotum is clinically relevant.
Purpose of the Study:
- To electrophysiologically demonstrate and characterize the dartos reflex (DR).
- To establish the DR as a tool for evaluating thoracolumbar sympathetic and genitofemoral nerve pathways.
- To assess the clinical utility of the DR for evaluating scrotal autonomic innervation.
Main Methods:
- Electrophysiological recording of scrotal skin contraction in response to cutaneous thigh stimulation in 20 healthy men.
- Evocation of the dartos reflex (DR) via thigh stimulation.
- Recording of control sympathetic skin responses (SSRs) from hand, foot, and perineum.
Main Results:
- The dartos reflex (DR) was reliably evoked and reproducible.
- Mean latencies for the DR were longer than those for hand, foot, and perineal SSRs (P < 0.05).
- The DR provides an assessment of the genitofemoral nerve (T12-L2) reflex arc integrity.
Conclusions:
- The dartos reflex (DR) is a valid and reproducible electrophysiological test.
- The DR can be used to assess the integrity of sympathetic pathways, specifically the genitofemoral nerve.
- Abnormalities in dartos innervation, detectable via DR testing, may have implications for testicular thermoregulation and spermatogenesis.