Hypospadias overview
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Hypospadias Microchapters |
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Diagnosis |
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Treatment |
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Case Studies |
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Hypospadias overview On the Web |
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American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Hypospadias overview |
Steven C. Campbell, M.D., Ph.D.
Overview
Hypospadias is a birth defect of the urethra in the male that involves an abnormally placed urethral meatus (opening). Instead of opening at the tip of the glans of the penis, a hypospadic urethra opens anywhere along a line (the urethral groove) running from the tip along the underside (ventral aspect) of the shaft to the junction of the penis and scrotum or perineum. A distal hypospadias may be suspected even in an uncircumcised boy from an abnormally formed foreskin and downward tilt of the glans.
The urethral meatus opens on the glans penis in about 50-75% of cases; these are categorized as first degree hypospadias. Second degree (when the urethra opens on the shaft), and third degree (when the urethra opens on the perineum) occur in up to 20 and 30% of cases respectively. The more severe degrees are more likely to be associated with chordee, in which the phallus is incompletely separated from the perineum or is still tethered downwards by connective tissue, or with undescended testes (cryptorchidism).