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. 2012 May 22;53(4):849–855. doi: 10.3349/ymj.2012.53.4.849

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© Copyright: Yonsei University College of Medicine 2012

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Fig. 1 — Sagittal sections of the miadsagittal area including the coccyx (CO) and anococcygeal ligament. Masson trichrome staining. (A) 96 years old male, displays a thick external anal sphincter (EAS) in the 30 mm inferior side of the CO. (B) 84 years old female, exhibits a thin EAS 40 mm below the CO. The anococcygeal ligament (ACL) merges with the EAS as well as the longitudinal anal muscle (arrows) between the EAS and internal anal sphincter (IAS). Inserts in panels A and B are higher magnification views of a square in panel A or B, respectively. Insert in panel A shows smooth muscles in the ACL, while an inset in panel B striated muscles distributing in the inferior end of the ACL. Note a fibrous tissue (stars) in the dorsal side of the ligament. Asterisk in panel A (or in the insert in panel B) indicates the dorsosuperior reflection of the well developed EAS (or an artificial damage during the histological procedure).