THE ESSENTIAL
- In the case of the young patient, an anastomosis (a natural or surgically established connection) between the front parts of the urethra was made.
- This resulted in a structural and functional urethra.
Incredible but true. In Uzbekistan, a boy was born with two penises. For much of his childhood, he lived with these two organs. When he was 7, he had surgery to remove his left penis. “This child was referred to our clinic for a genital abnormality. Clinical examination identified two fully developed penises with a common shaft,” reported the doctors who treated him in a report published in the journal Urology Case Reports.
According to medical professionals, both penises were functional. The Uzbek boy was able to urinate with both organs. An exam “showed two distinct urethras opening into the bladder”, practitioners said. They added that the young patient’s kidneys and bladder were working fine, but he was born without an anus.
Diphallia, a rare congenital anomaly
The 7-year-old child had diphallia. It is a rare congenital anomaly, which is characterized by a duplication of the penis. The latter affects one birth in 5 to 6 million. “It can be presented as isolated or associated with other congenital urogenital anomalies, such as duplication of a kidney and bladder, gastrointestinal anomalies and also musculoskeletal problems”, can we read in the report. According to the doctors, although every penis is structurally normal, these cases represent a great surgical challenge for the specialist.
