Reduced birth weight in boys with hypospadias: an index of androgen dysfunction?
- I A Hughes1,
- K Northstone2,
- J Golding2,
- and the ALSPAC Study Team
- 1Department of Paediatrics, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Box 116, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK
- 2Unit of Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, Division of Child Health, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndale Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
- Correspondence to:
Professor Hughes, Department of Paediatrics, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Box 116, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK;
iah1000{at}cam.ac.uk
- Accepted 17 January 2002
Abstract
Anthropometric birth measurements analysed for 51 boys with hypospadias identified in a prospective cohort study showed significant reductions in mean values for birth weight, length, and head circumference compared with controls. The absence of the usual sex dimorphism for these variables suggests that the results represent a marker of fetal androgen dysfunction in this subgroup of infants.
