Congenital Urethral Polyps: A Rare Cause of Bladder Outlet Obstruction in Children

Polypoid mass in the prostatic urethra is uncommon but potentially represents a wide spectrum of different entities, ranging from congenital malformations, benign polyps, premalignant disorders to various malignancies. Congenital urethral polyps are rare entity in infancy. They are congenital benign tumors. Most patients present with acute retention, hematuria or intermittent bladder outlet obstruction. The treatmentof choice is transurethral endoscopic ortransvesical resection. Histological study confirms the diagnosis and theprognosis is excellent. We report a case of an 18 month’s old boy who presented with acute urinary retention. There was history of dribbling of urine and excessive crying during micturition. Imaging and endoscopic studies confirmed the presence of a polypoid pedunculated lesion at the bladder base arising from posterior urethra. It was excised by cystostomy because of an unsuccessful cystoscopic removal attempt. Although this is considered a benign lesion with no previous reports of recurrence or malignant behavior, it produces dramatic urinary symptoms in the pediatric population with a wide differential diagnosis. Imaging and endoscopic findings may suggest a malignancy and are not sufficient to render a precise diagnosis, which can only be made by pathologic examination.