Corpus spongiosum
Spongy tissue within the human penis
The corpus spongiosum is the mass of spongy tissue surrounding the male urethra within the penis. It is also called the corpus cavernosum urethrae in older texts.
Structure
The proximal part of the corpus spongiosum is expanded to form the urethral bulb, and lies in apposition with the inferior fascia of the urogenital diaphragm, from which it receives a fibrous investment.
The urethra enters the bulb nearer to the superior than to the inferior surface. On the latter there is a median sulcus (groove), from which a thin fibrous septum (wall) projects into the substance of the bulb and divides it imperfectly into two lateral lobes or hemispheres.
The portion of the corpus spongiosum in front of the bulb lies in a groove on the under surface of the conjoined corpora cavernosa penis. It is cylindrical in form and tapers slightly from behind forward. Its anterior end is expanded in the form of an obtuse cone, flattened from above downward. This expansion, termed the glans penis, is moulded on the rounded ends of the corpus cavernosum penis, extending farther on their upper than on their lower surfaces.
At the summit of the glans is the slit-like vertical opening known as the external urethral orifice, or the urinary meatus.
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This entry incorporates text from “Corpus spongiosum” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.