(1)
Pediatric Surgery, Al Azher University, Cairo, Egypt
Abstract
Penile chordee is a condition in which the head of the penis curves downward or upward, at the junction of the head and shaft of the penis. The curvature is usually obvious during erection, but resistance to straightening is often apparent in the flaccid state as well. It is a congenital anomaly due to reduced elasticity in one or more of the fascial layers of the penis, leading to shortness of the corpus spongiosum when erection occurs. Usually the bend is ventral but could be dorsal or complex.
Keywords
ChordeeCongenital curvatureFrenulum breveGenerally there is three varieties of chordee should be recognised in dealing with a child with penile curvature:
Congenital chordee without hypospadias (Figs. 13.1 and 13.2).
Fig. 13.1
A neonate with chordee without hypospadias
Fig. 13.2
Severe ventral chordee
Chordee associated with hypospadias, specially in proximal types and with the hypospadias variant of corpora spongosium hypoplasia (Fig. 13.3).
Fig. 13.3
Penile chordee with a deficient corpora spongosium, urethra covered only with a thin skin
Secondary or acquired chordee; which usually complicate circumcision or hypospadias repair and this should be differentiated from Peyronie’s disease, which involves curvature of the shaft of the penis most commonly due to injury during adult life (Fig. 13.4).