Student researchers at the University of Birmingham Medical School in the United Kingdom made this discovery during an autopsy of the 78-year-old man, who donated his body to science. It is thought that the man may have spent his entire life without realizing the “marked anatomical difference”.
According to the research paper published in the Journal of Medical Case Reports, this congenital anomaly is known as Triphalia, an extremely rare condition that describes the presence of three distinct penises, which has only been reported once in history.
In 2020, doctors in Dohuk, Iraq, discovered the first documented case of a 3-month-old boy born with three penises. However, this is the first time such a condition has been reported in a mature adult, making it a strange medical discovery.
A similar abnormality to this condition is known as diphallia, or double penis, and this condition affects one in every five to six million people. Only about 100 cases have been reported in the medical literature.
Triphalia causes problems such as urinary tract infections, erectile dysfunction, or fertility problems.
This is the first time this birth defect has been described in detail through post-mortem examination.
During the examination, researchers noted that the patient, a white man about 1.8 meters (6 feet) tall, had normal external genitalia.
However, further investigation revealed the presence of “two additional small penises hidden within the scrotum.”
The primary penis and one of the two secondary penises shared a urethra, which passed through the secondary penis before passing through the primary penis.
According to the researchers, the other, smaller, secondary penis did not have a urethra-like structure.
The growth of the reproductive organs begins in the uterus in the fourth to seventh weeks of pregnancy. The penis develops from the genital tubercle and is controlled by the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT).
Abnormalities in genes that affect androgen receptors can lead to physical abnormalities of the reproductive organs.
In this case, the genital tubercle may have tripled, resulting in the development of a secondary penile urethra.
When this penis did not develop, the urethra changed its course and developed in the primary penis instead. The third rod is the remains of the tripled reproductive tubercle.
In most cases of external double penis, which are usually associated with other congenital malformations, surgeons choose to remove the extra penis.
Double penis is usually recognized later in life, when it causes problems such as sexual dysfunction, obstructive urinary tract symptoms, and urinary incontinence in adulthood.
“We cannot be certain that the defect in this case went unnoticed throughout life,” the new case report said, as the person had a history of surgery to repair an inguinal hernia, and the twisted nature of the urethra made it difficult to pass a urinary catheter.
Given the incidental nature of the discovery, the researchers suggested that the condition “multiple penises” may be more common than previously thought.
Source: Interesting Engineering
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