Pictorial essay: Congenital anomalies of male urethra in children

Abstract

Congenital anomalies of the male urogenital tract are common. Some lesions like posterior urethral valve or anterior urethral diverticulum tend to present early in infancy and are often easily diagnosed on conventional contrast voiding cystourethrograms. Other conditions like posterior urethral diverticulum or utricle can be relatively asymptomatic and therefore present late in childhood. We present the spectrum of imaging findings of common and uncommon anomalies involving the male urethra. Since the pediatric radiologist is often the first to make the diagnosis, he or she should be well aware of these conditions.

Anterior urethral valves without diverticulum, a rare cause of infravesical obstruction and vesicoureteral reflux in children: Report of two cases and literature review

“…The investigation of choice is a voiding cystourethrography. It is imperative to obtain and evaluate the voiding phase with the oblique view to avoid missing the diagnosis [10]. Transpenile ultrasound is complementary to confirm the diagnosis [11].…”

Congenital posterior urethral diverticulum in an infant with Robinow syndrome – diagnostic difficulties

“…Ultrasound and voiding cystourethrography are usually initial diagnostic modalities of choice and adequate to establish diagnosis of PUD [2,3,5]. However, a giant PUD may cause diagnostic difficulties and additional images, such as MRI may be required for proper assessment [4].…”

“…There is a lack of information about this entity and only a few reports are available in the literature [1][2][3][4][5]. More common encountered are acquired cases of diverticulum of the posterior urethra, which mostly follow surgical reconstruction of imperforate anus [6][7][8].…”

Imaging of the adult male urethra, penile prostheses and artificial urinary sphincters

“…A close differential is the Mullerian duct cyst which does not communicate with the urethra and often extends superior to the prostate. VCUG and RUG can depict the utricle and its size [24,25].…”

“…24). In the past 24 Photograph showing a normal artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) and its components namely inflatable cuff around the urethra (long arrow), reservoir in the pelvis (dashed arrow) and pump in the scrotum (short arrow). Reprinted, with permission, from Boston Scientific, Minnetonka, MN diluted contrast was used in the reservoir, but currently, the reservoir is filled with saline and will appear fluid attenuation on CT studies.…”