ABSTRACT
Hugh Hampton Young initially described posterior urethral valves and proposed the current classification scheme.1 Dewan and colleagues argued for an alternative to Young’s system and proposed the term congenital posterior urethral membrane.2 Regardless of the classification, it is clear that this anomaly presents with great variability.3 Posterior urethral valves occur in 1 in 5000 live births, which would mean that some 400-500 new cases occur in the United States every year. Although this might seem to be a small number of cases, one must consider that within this cohort of patients, approximately 150 will develop end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and require either dialysis or transplantation within their first 18 years. Given today’s advances in dialysis and transplantation, and life expectancies that will approach 70-80 years, this small number of patients places a substantial financial burden upon the healthcare system. Clearly, anything that can be done to lower the incidence of ESRD in this population will have a substantial societal impact, in addition to a profound effect upon the lifestyle of the boy and his family.
