Vincent Di Marino and Hubert Lepidi: Anatomic study of the clitoris and the bulbo-clitoral organ

Abstract

The aim of this book is to provide an extensive knowledge of the ‘‘exceptional natural treasure that every woman possesses and that every man should know well’’. Starting with a review of the surprising history of misknowledge of this topic, then providing the classic chapters of embryology, macroscopical and microscopic morphology, innervation, vascularisation, and relationships, this eagerly awaited work offers an extensive study of the anatomy of the clitoris and the bulbo-clitoral organ, including specific chapters devoted to terminology, modern imaging, physiology, mutilations, and a review of the clitoris in the history of art, as well as in radio, television and comics. The book is divided into 17 chapters. In sequential order, they are devoted to: History of the Clitoris, Formation of the Clitoris, Terminology and related Difficulties, External Morphology of the Clitoris, Microscopic Study of the Bulbo-clitoral Organ, Physiology of Cavernous and Spongy Tissues, Innervation of the Bulbo-clitoral Organ, Sensory Corpuscules, the Vessels of the Bulbo-clitoral organ, The Suspensory Ligament of the Clitoris, Relationships of the Bulbo-clitoral Organ, Imagery of the Bulbo-clitoral Organ, The Bulbo-clitoral Organ in the sexual Act, Mutilations of the Clitoris, and The Clitoris in the Art. The text is well documented, concise and easy to read. Richly illustrated, this book displays more than 100 figures, all of high quality, including anatomical specimens, photomicrographs illustrating embryology and histology, various full-colour drawings and diagrams, computerised tomography scans, magnetic resonance images, historical documents and photographs. Emeritus professor of Anatomy at the Aix-Marseille University, former director of the Anatomy Laboratory, visceral surgeon, former director of the Transplantation Center at Sainte Marguerite Hospital in Marseille, Vincent Di Marino is well known as an enthusiastic teacher, as well as an expert in the field of pelvic anatomy whose previous research topics were focused on the pelvis levator ani muscles, the striated anal sphincter and the hypogastric plexuses. Hubert E-Marie Lepidi, professor of Histology at Aix-Marseille University and a pathologist at La Timone Hospital in Marseille, was in charge of the important histological part of the book. This original, attractive, and richly documented book will be of great interest not only to all anatomists, but also to medical students, pelvic visceral surgeons, urologists, gynaecologists, obstetricians, sexologists, plastic surgeons, radiologists, midwifes and nurses. Since it has been shown by a survey carried out in 2009 that around 20 % of young women did not know they have a clitoris, a large-scale distribution of this work could perhaps be studied...