title: Hypospadias in a polar bear (Ursus maritimus).
abstract: Corrective surgery on a 1.5-yr-old male polar bear (Ursus maritimus) with hypospadias included amputation of the vestigial penis, bilateral orchiectomy with scrotal ablation, and distal perineal urethrostomy. Hypospadias in other species is a congenital deformity that may be caused by extra- and intrauterine factors resulting in a disruption of the testosterone balance during urethral development, but the causative mechanism in this bear is unknown. The urethrostomy site was functional without complications 8 mo after surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Companion Animal and Special Species Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27606, USA.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Stamper
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Norton
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Spodnick
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marti
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Loomis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000836:Animals, Zoo; D007021:Hypospadias / Q000601:surgery / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D001503:Ursidae / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000601:surgery