Etiology and pathogenesis of the prune belly syndrome

Abstract

The hypothesis explaining the characteristics of the prune belly syndrome (congenital partial absense of the abdominal wall musculature, severe urinary tract abnormalities, and cryptorchidism) as sequelae of a primary obstructive uropathy is supported neither by evidence from the literature nor by our own observations of 12 males and 2 females. Critical analysis of the known facts favors the concept of a developmental field complex in which the various manifestations of the prune belly syndrome are produced by an early mesodermal defect.