PELVIS 



599 



After birth, when the umbilical cord is ligatured and 

 divided, a portion of each hypogastric artery, from the 

 umbilicus to the sciatic notch, undergoes atrophy, and is 

 ultimately converted into a fibrous cord known as the 

 lateral umbilical ligament. This springs from the lower end 

 of the trunk, or from the anterior division of the hypogastric 

 artery, and runs forward on the side wall of the pelvis to 

 the apex of the bladder, whence it ascends to the umbilicus. 

 At the side of the pelvis it lies at a higher level than the 

 obturator nerve, and it passes to the lateral side of the ductus 

 deferens. For about the first two inches of its extent it has 

 a small lumen, and from this part one or more superior 

 vesical branches arise. 1 



Branches of the Divisions of the Hypogastric Artery. 



Arterise Vesicales Superiores (Superior Vesical Arteries). 

 As a rule there are two or three slender superior vesical 

 arteries which spring from the umbilical artery. They 

 supply the greater part of the superior and infero-lateral 

 surfaces of the bladder, and occasionally one of them gives 

 off the artery to the ductus deferens, an extremely slender 

 branch which can be traced along the deferent duct to the 

 testicle. 



Arteria Vesicalis Inferior (Inferior Vesical Artery). 



1 Although the portion ot the hypogastric artery of the foetus which runs 

 from the great sciatic notch through the umbilicus to the placenta is the direct 

 continuation of the main trunk, it is frequently called the umbilical artery and 

 is spoken of as a branch of the hypogastric artery. When this terminology is 

 adopted the lateral umbilical ligament is said to be the remains of the umbilical 

 artery. 



