ULTRASONOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF PROSTATE GLAND IN THE DOMESTIC RABBIT (Oryct Olagus cuniculus )

The prostate gland of ten sexually mature, healthy male white New Zealand rabbits at the age of 12 months, weighing 2.8 - 3.0 kg, was studied by ultrasonography. Following anesthesia, the urinary bladder was filled with physiological saline. The three glandular parts were observed only on the sagittal ultrasonographic plane. The proprostate and paraprostate parts were visualized as a solid, homogenous structure with a relatively higher echogenicity, as compared with the more caudally situated prostate part. On the transversal ultrasonographic plane, the whole prostate gland was seen as a solid, ovoid, heterogeneous and entirely hyperechoic structure. The sagittal and transversal ultrasonographic images of the postmortally extirpated prostate glands immersed in an isotonic liquid medium corresponded completely to the glandular findings observed in vivo. The results of our investigations motivated us to propose the use of the prepubic ultrasonography, with a filled urinary bladder, as a useful method for visualization of the rabbit prostate gland.