THE DEVELOPMENT AND ABNORMALITIES OF THE PENILE URETHRA

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Abstract
The developmental theory proposed is based on a study of 41 serially sectioned human embryos ranging from 5 to 150 mm. correlated with known congenital defects. The urethral plate occurs in the earliest embryos possessing a genital tubercle and is from the start continuous with the lining of the endodermal cloaca and with the ectoderm at the tip of the tubercle. Canalization of the plate probably accounts for the formation of the normal urethra distal to the frenum and the common short paraurethral ducts which lie dorsal to the urethra. The bulk of the penile urethra is formed by the closure of the urethral folds.