Aphallia: A Rare Congenital Anomaly in a Low-Resource Setting

Abstract

Aphallia is a very uncommon congenital condition with an incidence of about one in 30 million births. It is characterized by the absence of a penis which is due to the failure of the genital tubercle to form or develop fully. In this case report, we present a 3-month-old male infant with aphallia from a remote part of Eritrea who was subsequently lost to follow-up and discuss the challenges that are faced when dealing with such a complex congenital anomaly in a developing country. This report highlights the importance of having accessible healthcare services for early detection, appropriate management, and counseling of the affected individual and their families. Finally, healthcare providers should work together in the future to improve the quality of life of affected individuals and their families as the management of aphallia requires multidisciplinary collaboration and comprehensive care to reduce the potential long-term psychological and social consequences of the condition.

Keywords:

• aphallia
• congenital absence of penis
• penile agenesis
• developing countries
• Eritrea

Consent

A signed written informed consent was obtained from the mother at the time of the examination for the case details and images to be published. The institutional research ethics review committee of the Ministry of Health of Eritrea, has informed that the approval for this case report is not required.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this.