Urogenital tract abnormalities in sons of women treated with diethylstilbestrol

Since in utero exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES) is known to cause abnormalities of the female genital tract later in life, exposed male offspring were located, surveyed by mail, and compared with unexposed male offspring from the same period and medical practices. The exposed and unexposed respondents appeared comparable and did not differ in their response to most medical questions. However, a larger proportion of exposed than of unexposed boys had experienced problems in passing urine (12.9% vs. 1.8%, P = .0003) and abnormalities of the penile urethra (4.4% vs. 0%; P = .017).