Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Okayama, 2003
Vol. 57, No. 2, pp. 9 1-9 3
Copyrightc2003 by Okayama University Medical School.
Urethral Duplication
Urethral duplication is a rare congenital anomaly. Although a number of theories have been
proposed to describe the embryology of the condition, the actual mechanism of the disorder is still
unclear. We report here a case of urethral duplication in a 11-year-old boy complaining of a double
stream, and review the current literature on this rare entity.
Fig. 2 Illustration of Effman classifi cation. Type I, blind incomplete urethral duplication; Type IA(distal), opens on the distal or ventral
surface of the penis but does not communicate with the urethra or bladder (most common type); Type IB (proximal), opens from urethral
channeland ends blindlyintheperiurethraltissue(veryrare). TypeII, completepatent urethralduplication; TypeIIA- 1, twononcommunicating
urethras arising independentlyfrom the bladder or coursing independentlyto 2 different meati; Type IIA-2, a second channelarising fromthe
first and coursing independentlyto a second meatus; Type IIB (one meatus), two urethras arising from the bladder or posterior urethra and
uniting to form a common distal channel. Type III, urethral duplication as a component of a partial or complete caudal duplication.
April 2003 Urethral Duplication 93
commonly accepted. This classifi cation is the most func- symptoms, such as an annoying doublestreamorinconti-
tional, representing all clinical aspects ofurethralduplica- nence, or for acosmeticdeformity, such as an epispadiac
tion. According to theclassifi cation ofEffman et al.[6], meatus.
our case was a Type II A- 2 (complete patent with 2
meatus; that is, asecond channelarises fromthefi rst and References
courses independently to a second meatus).
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streams are parallel. 6. Effman EL, Lebowitz RL and Colodyn AH: Duplication ofthe urethra.
In conclusion, knowledge of urethral duplication is Radiology(1976)119: 179-185.
important with respect to surgical procedures. Thetreat- 7. Firlit CF: Urethralabnormalities. UrolClin North Am(1978)5: 31-55.
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