Altered Development of Prepuce in Hypospadias and Its Clinical Relevance

There have been conflicting theories attempting to explain male external genital development. Most of them are based on studies using human and animal fetuses in different stages of development through serial sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin and examined under light or electron microscopy. Immunohistochemical studies using antibodies of epithelial differentiation markers such as cytokeratin, vimentin, MIB-1, and FoxA1 were also undertaken to investigate the germ layer origin of the urethra. In this chapter, we will focus on the development of normal prepuce and attempt to explain growth of abnormal anatomic features in hypospadiac prepuce. Dealing with prepuce is an essential part of hypospadias repair. We utilize the patho-embryologic landmarks in skin reconstruction, and a practical method developed in that purpose will be described briefly. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2004, 2022