What are the rear urethral valves?
Rear urethral valves, also called PUV, are a condition that affects only boys and is present at birth. It describes excess skin flaps in the urethra that can block or reverse the flow of urine from the bladder to the outside of the body. Symptoms of PUV include enlarged bladder, urinary tract infections and painful urination. The weak flow of urine can also be present and may even lead to respiratory failure in infants. Serious symptoms may be detected in the fetus, while mild symptoms may take years to appear and subsequently diagnose.
Rear urethral valves are located inside the male urethra. The male urethra is a thin tube that carries urine from the bladder to the tip of the penis where it is released from the body. Urinary tube disorders, such as rear valves, affect the entire urinary tract, which consists of urethra, bladder, urea and kidneys.
rear urethral valve symptoms are likely to appear in veryan early age because the disorder is present at birth or before birth. Symptoms differ in each child and may occur as mild or serious. The most common symptoms of this disorder are enlarged bladder, which may or may not cause a protruding abdomen. Urinary tract infections, painful urination and weak stream of urination are also symptoms of PUV. Other symptoms may include problems with urination or weight gain, frequent urination and wetting of the bed or pants after training the potty.
The severity of the symptoms of the rear urethral valves determines when the condition is detected. In very serious cases, for example, when urine is complete or almost completely blocked, the condition may be diagnosed prenatally. Ultrasound can find a distance of the bladder in the fetus, as well as bilateral kidney dilation, dilatation of ureteral and reduced amniot fluid levels. A condition may also be diagnosed in Newbors with severe symptoms such as breathing problems, spanned bladder and dribbledUrine. If the symptoms at birth are mild, the effect on the bladder is very gradual and may take years to present the symptoms.
The exact cause of the rear urethral valves is unknown, but is considered a congenital defect. Excess flaps that define PUVs are assumed that the fetal development is developing very early. It is the most common cause of urinary tract obstruction in boys, but affects almost one of the 8,000 infants. The general consensus is that this disorder comes by accident, but has been seen in some twins and siblings, suggesting that genetics can play a role.