Penis Disorders—Birth Defects

A birth defect is a problem that happens while a baby is developing in the mother’s body. Most birth defects happen during the first 3 months of pregnancy. One out of every 33 babies in the United States is born with a birth defect.

A birth defect may affect how the body looks, works or both. Some birth defects like cleft lip or neural tube defects are structural problems that can be easy to see. To find others, like heart defects, doctors use special tests. Birth defects can range from mild to severe. Causes can include

• Genetics
• Exposures to medicines or chemicals. For example, alcohol abuse can cause fetal alcohol syndrome.
• Infections during pregnancy
• Certain medicines. Before you get pregnant, talk to your health care provider about any medicines you take.
• Not getting enough of certain nutrients. For example, not getting enough folic acid before and during pregnancy is a key factor in causing neural tube defects.

For most birth defects, the cause is unknown.

Health care providers can diagnose certain birth defects during pregnancy, with prenatal tests. That’s why it important to get regular prenatal care. Other birth defects may not be found until after the baby is born. Sometimes the defect is obvious right away. Other times, the health care provider may not discover it until later in life.

Babies with birth defects often need special care and treatments. The treatments may include surgery, medicines, assistive devices, and therapies.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Intersex (Medical Encyclopedia)

Also called: Penile disorders

Problems with the penis can cause pain and affect a man’s sexual function and fertility. Penis disorders include

• Erectile dysfunction – inability to get or keep an erection
• Priapism – a painful erection that does not go away
• Peyronie’s disease – bending of the penis during an erection due to a hard lump called a plaque
• Balanitis – inflammation of the skin covering the head of the penis, most often in men and boys who have not been circumcised
• Penile cancer – a rare form of cancer, highly curable when caught early

• Balanitis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Cancer – penis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Curvature of the penis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Epididymitis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Epispadias (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Erythroplasia of Queyrat (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Hypospadias (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Hypospadias repair (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Hypospadias repair – discharge (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Paraphimosis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Penis pain (Medical Encyclopedia)