Accessory lumbar splanchnic ganglia in humans: a case report.

The present study was designed and performed on 20 human adult cadavers at the level of the retroperitoneal space in order to provide evidence of the paravertebral and prevertebral sympathetic ganglia. Only one specimen, male, presented two ganglia on the left side located on the first lumbar splanchnic nerve, one proximal and the other distal. The macroscopically detected swellings were drawn and certified as autonomic ganglia after performing silver stains by the method of Bielschowsky (on blocks). No existing reference to date mentions such lumbar splanchnic ganglia, which could be the result of a fragmentation followed by displacement from the lumbar sympathetic trunk. Their demonstrated anatomical connections with the afferents of the spermatic ganglion and the intermesenteric plexus may indicate the involvement of these ganglia in vasomotor and gonadal functions.