A 2-month-old infant has epispadias and the bladder mucosa is exposed to the outside. Which of the following is the most likely cause of this condition?
High-Yield Explanation
When the urinary bladder mucosa is open to the outside in the fetus or newborn, the condition is referred to as extrophy of the bladder. The extrophy results from failure of the primitive streak mesoderm to migrate around the cloacal membrane, and it occurs often in combination with epispadias. Penile hypospadias is characterized by a failure of fusion of the labioscrotal folds, with the external urethral orifice located between the two unfused halves of the scrotum. Androgens are responsible for development of the testes. Klinefelter syndrome is a condition in which the male has 47XXY chromosomes. A persistent allantois is associated with a patent urachus and an allantoic cyst.