[Balanitis xerotica obliterans, underdiagnosed pathology of clinical relevance]

Balanitis xerotica obliterans (BXO) is a chronic inflamatory disease, a genital form of Lichen Sclerosus in males.

This retrospective and descriptive analysis was carried out by rewiew of the medical records of boys who underwent circumcision from April 2013 to April 2014. The study group consisted of boys that were circumcised due it persistant phimosis at 4 years of age, urinary symptoms or painful erection. The histopathological examination was performed only in patients with clinical suspicion of BXO.

339 patients were circumcised. The mean age of surgery was 6.5 years (Median 5, Mode 4). BXO was confirmed in eleven boys (3.9%) out of 16 biopsies (5.7%), with a mean age of 8.2 years (6-12). Of all the biopsies that were analysed for clinical BXO, 9 had scarring phimosis (2 meatal stenosis), 2 had balanitis and 1 had acute urinary retention, 2 presented descamative foreskin or glands, and 1 had recurrent phimosis. The histopathological examination revealed lichen sclerosus in 10 patients. Meatotomy was performed in 3 boys, one of them in during the follow-up period. 10 patients with BXO were treated with topical corticosteroid cream after circumcision.

Our incidence is low in compared to literature (10-40%) as we did not refer the foreskin routinely to histopathological analysis. The clinical suspicion underestimates the incidence of BXO up to 49%. The circumcision is curative in most cases with BXO. The BXO may produce meatoestenosis and urethral abnormalities, and it is associated with a high incidence of penile carcinoma of the penis.