A 6-month-old boy has a soft, transilluminant scrotal swelling that varies in size during the day and cannot be reduced. Ultrasound shows fluid around the testis with a patent tract extending up to the superficial inguinal ring. This condition results from persistence of which structure?

• A Gubernaculum proper
• B Processus vaginalis ✓
• C Saccus vaginalis of the tunica albuginea
• D Remnant of the caudal suspensory ligament

Explanation

The processus vaginalis is the peritoneal evagination that follows the gubernaculum through the inguinal canal during testicular descent. It normally obliterates shortly after birth. Failure of obliteration leaves a peritoneoperitoneal communication allowing peritoneal fluid to track down, producing a communicating hydrocele or an indirect inguinal hernia through the same tract. The gubernaculum becomes the scrotal ligament, while the tunica albuginea is a condensation of the gonadal capsule, unrelated to this fluid collection.

Reference: Langman's Medical Embryology, 14th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.