Man born with three penises discovered by student researchers

A man with three penises has been discovered by a student research team - in only the second ever recorded case of the rare birth defect.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham Medical School stumbled across the “serendipitous discovery” while dissecting the donated body of a 78-year-old man. The man may have gone his whole life without realising he had the remarkably rare condition, the team wrote, though it could have caused him some issues or dysfunctions.

Diphallia, or double penis, is a rare anomaly, which according to the British Medical Journal, affects one in five million males across the world. Triphallia, or triple penis, meanwhile, has only once before been reported, the researchers wrote in the Journal of Medical Case Reports this month.

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They added: “These penile morphological abnormalities may not have been identified during his life. However, he may have lived with functional deficits due to the abnormal anatomy of the region, which may include urinary tract infections, erectile dysfunction or fertility issues.”

The first ever case of triphallia, documented in 2020, was in a newborn baby. This new discovery represents the first time the internal anatomy of the birth defect has been described in detail through post-mortem dissection.

The patient, a white male around 6 feet tall and of a medium–large build, appeared to have normal genitalia on external examination. However, dissection revealed “two small supernumerary penises … concealed within the scrotal sac”.

The primary and secondary penis shared a urethra, which ‘coursed through the secondary penis prior to its passage through the primary penis’.

“A urethra-like structure was absent from the smallest supernumerary penis,” the authors wrote.

The team also noted that polyphallia - having multiple penises - may be more common than realised.

They added: “As the inferior two penises were concealed within the scrotal sac, external genitalia appeared normal. This may explain why the abnormality was not observed until post mortem exploration.

“Without any symptoms and additional medical needs, concealed internal penises may not present themselves, preventing diagnosis. Hence, polyphallia may be more prevalent than currently understood.

“It is of clinical importance for healthcare providers to be aware of polyphallia for the diagnosis of patients presenting with urological symptoms and for healthcare interventions, such as simple catheter insertion, urological imaging, and surgery.”