Epispadias

What it means

Epispadias is a urogenital malformation characterized by the failure of the urethral tube to tubularize on the dorsal aspect. Unlike in hypospadias, where the meatus is on the ventral aspect, children with epispadias have a wide-open urethral plate on the dorsum. It is commonly seen as a component in the spectrum of bladder exstrophy-epispadias-complex. Isolated epispadias constitutes less than 10 percent of the total cases of epispadias.

Epispadias may be present in a phenotypic male, female, or an individual with ambiguous genitalia. A meatus in a phenotypic male may be positioned either on the glans (glandular or balanic epispadias), the shaft (penile epispadias) or at the attachment of the penis to the abdominal wall (penopubic epispadias). Alternatively, the urethra may be an open groove along the dorsal shaft of the penis, with no readily recognized meatus. Epispadias is a frequent component of Bladder exstrophy, but should be coded separately.

Rare diseases that can present with this17

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category