OBJECTIVETo study the clinical characteristics of male urethral duplication infection and offer some guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

METHODSWe analyzed the pathological types, clinical characteristics, therapeutic processes and follow-up results of 9 cases of male urethral duplication.

RESULTSAmong the 9 cases of urethral duplication, 7 turned out to be of Type I, 1 Type II A2 and 1 Type II B. The disease courses varied from 2 to 420 days, with an average of 77.2 +/- 141.5 days. Four cases with longer disease duration were identified with a history of repeated use of various antibiotics for treatment. Their clinical manifestations varied, with the outflow of excretions or pus from the duplicate or normal urethra as the cardinal symptoms. The pathogens detected from the secretions were mainly Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Ureaplasma urealyticum, and Chlamydia trachomatis. The consistency rate of the same pathogens detected in the vaginal or cervical secretions from the sex partners of the patients was 87.5%. All the symptoms disappeared after a sufficient-course treatment with sensitive antibiotics, and the patients' sex partners received the same medication simultaneously. No recurrence was found during a 3-month follow-up.

CONCLUSIONUrethral duplication infection has various clinical manifestations, and thus is easily missed in diagnosis. Sufficient-course treatment with sensitive antibiotics is recommended for those that prefer conservative therapy, and their sex partners should be treated simultaneously.