[Morphologic principles for radical prostatectomy]

As a result of studies by P. Walsh, better anatomical knowledge of the prostate and the periprostatic tissue has considerably improved the surgical technique of radical prostatectomy over the last 10 years. The improvement is reflected by markedly lower morbidity and mortality rates after radical prostatectomy, which has led to a wider use of this operation for the treatment of localized prostate cancer in nearly all centers. Additional information has been obtained since Walsh performed his studies. The present state of the art is presented in this paper. A survey of the literature reveals that many of the new insights into the anatomical structure were already known at the beginning of the last century, some even in 1776.