Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Weerakkody Y, Hacking C, Alsmair A, et al. Cowper duct syringocele. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 19 Feb 2025) https://radiopaedia.org/articles/52717
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Craig Hacking had the following disclosures:
- Philips Australia, Paid speaker at Philips Spectral CT events (ongoing)
These were assessed during peer review and were determined to
not be relevant to the changes that were made.
View Craig Hacking's current disclosures
Cowper duct syringocele refers to cystic dilatation of the main duct of the bulbourethral (Cowper) glands.
Affected patients may present with postvoid dribbling, urinary frequency, weak stream, or hematuria.
Four groups of syringoceles have been described 2:
- simple syringocele
- minimally dilated duct
- most frequent
- perforate syringocele
- bulbous duct that drains into the urethra via a patulous ostium
- can appear as a diverticulum
- imperforate syringocele: bulbous duct that resembles a submucosal cyst and appears as a radiolucent mass
- ruptured syringocele: fragile membrane that remains in the urethra after a dilated duct ruptures
Ultrasound
May be seen a unilocular cystic lesion at the posterior or posterolateral aspect of the posterior urethra 8.
MRI
Usually seen as a midline oval structure at the penile base adjacent to the ventral aspect of the proximal bulbous urethra.
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T1: low signal intensity
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T2: high signal intensity
Treatment and prognosis
Treatment options include surgical incision of the obstructed duct (considered generally curative).
History and etymology
The Cowper glands and ducts were named for William Cowper (1666–1709), an English surgeon, who described the detailed anatomy of the bulbourethral glands in 1699. In actuality, the bulbourethral glands were first described by Jean Méry (1645– 1722), a French surgeon in 1684 11. To be fair to Cowper, he never claimed to have discovered his eponymous glands 11!
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