Arterial component of the angioarchitecture of the canine ovary

In order to study and possibly identify a vascular pattern in the canine ovary, 30 ovarian specimens received arterial injections of a mixture of 'Micropaque' with hydrosoluble red pigment, followed by clearing. The aorta or the femoral artery was catheterized and the injection was performed under a constant pressure of 120 mm Hg. The blood supply of the ovary is provided by the ovarian and the uterine artery. The former appears to be the most important of the two arteries since it is the largest and is the origin of a very rich vascular net in the ovarian stroma. It follows a helicine course within the broad ligament and enters into the ovarian stroma either by a single trunk or by two divergent branches, each supplying the anterior and the posterior half. When there is only a single trunk, one can see a vascular tuft totally occupying the stroma, with tortuosities running in the same direction as the longitudinal axis of the ovary. When there are two branches, the distribution is similar but with two tufts instead of one. From the ovarian artery several branches arise, the largest and most frequent being the lateral tubal artery and a branch which anastomoses with the uterine artery in the mesovarium. Other branches anastomose with one another or with branches of the uterine artery, forming a rich vascular net along the mesovarium. The uterine artery is situated within the broad ligament and runs along the lateral border of the uterus and up to the superior extremity of the uterus where it ends.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)