Dorsal penile curvature and megameatus intact prepuce hypospadias: A common association in a rare variant of hypospadias.

Background: Megameatus intact prepuce (MIP) is a rare variant of hypospadias. Unlike the hooded ventrally absent prepuce in non-MIP hypospadias, the prepuce in MIP hypospadias is fully circumferential and intact. The distal urethra remains wide with a deep glanular groove. While ventral curvature is a common finding in non-MIP hypospadias, neither ventral nor dorsal penile curvature has been reported in MIP hypospadias.

Objective: To assess the association of the MIP hypospadias variant with penile curvature.

Study Design: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all children who underwent hypospadias repair and identified those who were documented as having the MIP variant of hypospadias and operated in our center from January 1998 to June 2020. The patients were considered as having MIP hypospadias if no hypospadias had been evident before circumcision, if a circumferential circumcision scar was present (instead of the inverted V-shaped scar in the ventral aspect of the penis following circumcision of the hooded prepuce associated with non-MIP hypospadias), and if there was a wide meatus. Penile curvature was diagnosed intraoperatively by an artificial erection test that uses saline solution for injection. Patients were considered surgical candidates if the degree of curvature was equal to or greater than 30°.

Results: The study cohort consisted of 118 male children who were identified as having the MIP hypospadias variant according to the inclusion criteria. The median age at repair was 1.1 years (interquartile range 8 months to 1.6 years). Penile curvature was found in 29 children (24%), of whom 23 had dorsal curvatures (19%) and 6 had ventral curvatures (5%).

Discussion: MIP hypospadias is associated with penile curvature, and more frequently with dorsal than ventral curvature. This study is retrospective and does now identify specific features of MIP associated with penile curvature. We encourage pediatric urologists to perform an artificial erection test intraoperatively in children with the MIP variant and repair associated curvatures.

Conclusions: A dorsal curvature was found in 19% of patients with a MIP variant of hypospadias, and most of them (86%) required ventral plication due to the severity of the curvature.