The separation of the prepuce in the human penis

Abstract

ONE TEXT FIGURE AND THREE PLATES (NINE FIGURES)As is well known, the prepuce in the human penis is adherent to the glans at birth, a layer of stratified squamous epithelium being interposed, and shortly after birth these parts become separated so that the prepuce may be retracted.Failure of the prepuce to separate from the glans spontaneously o r neglect to separate the parts by artificial means results in phimosis or inability to retract the prepuce. Frequently, the customary retraction about the eighth day of infancy exposes irregularly distributed bleeding points, indicating incomplete separation.It is the purpose of this study to ascertain more definitely the nature of this cleaving process, the time of its onset, and the age when ultimate separation is completed. LITERATURENumerous papers dealing primarily with certain other phases of the embryology of the human penis make only secondary reference to the mechanism of preputial separation. For the most part these observations are based on one or at best on few age periods only and usually refer to material before birth. In no instance is the process followed from beginning to end in a serial study.Bokai (1860) was the first to direct attention to the physiological adherence of the foreskin. Schweiger and Seidel (1866) gave the first description of the development of the

Development and maturation of the male reproductive system

“…Development of the muscular wall is mediated by estrogen stimulation. Growth of the SV continues slowly until puberty (Deibert, 1933). Secretory activity of the SV is androgen dependent (Mann and Lutwak-Mann, 1976).…”

Further fate of the foreskin. Incidence of preputial adhesions, phimosis, and smegma among Danish schoolboys.

“…(Broman, 1946;Hamilton, Boyd, and Mossman, 1952). The inner surface of the prepuce and the surface of the glans receive a common epithelium which separates at about the time of birth or later, possibly much later (Deibert, 1933;Gairdner, 1949). This common epithelium is mistakenly termed 'adhesions' and, similarly, the separation is termed, also unfortunately, 'resolution of adhesions'.…”

Preputial retraction in children

“…Deibert [2] in 1933 studied the separation of prepuce in human beings and concluded that it occurs due to a process of keratinization of the epithelium. The prepuce appears in the fetus at eight weeks as a ring of thickened epidermis, which grows forward at the base of the glans penis.…”