Bladder, ureter & renal pelvis
Congenital anomalies
Duplication
Author: Alcides Chaux, M.D.
Last author update: 1 April 2011
Last staff update: 8 September 2023
Copyright: 2003-2023, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Bladder congenital anomalies duplication
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Epidemiology | Etiology | Clinical features | Case reports | Treatment | Radiology imagesCite this page: Chaux A. Duplication. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/bladderduplication.html. Accessed September 28th, 2023.
Definition / general
- Bladder is separated into complete or incomplete compartments, either in the sagittal or coronal plane
- Variants include double bladder, septal bladder and hourglass bladder
Epidemiology
- Rare, < 100 cases reported
- Equal male:female ratio
Etiology
- No single explanation for all cases of bladder duplication
- Complete duplication of bladder and hindgut probably occurs because of partial twinning of the tail portion of the embryo
- Excessive constriction of ventral cloaca or a supernumerary cloacal septum may lead to bladder duplication in the coronal plane
- Complete bladder duplication with diphalia may be explained by duplication of the cloaca
Clinical features
- Varies from intravesical septum to complete duplication of lower urinary tract
- Complete duplication means two bladders, each with a full thickness muscularis propria and its own ipsilateral ureter, half the trigone, and a urethra; may occur in coronal or sagittal planes
- Sagittal duplication (the most common): each bladder receives the ureter of ipsilateral kidney, separated from the other by a peritoneal fold and loose areolar tissue, is more often associated with non-urological anomalies than coronal ones
- Coronal duplication: two bladders lying in front of each other, separated by an oblique (posterosuperior to anteroinferior) fibromuscular septum
- Incomplete duplication consists of two bladder halves separated by a thick muscular wall, both draining into a common urethra
- Associated with other GI (36-42%) and GU (38-90%) anomalies, including caudal duplication syndrome (Am J Dis Child 1993;147:1048)
- Anomalies (and treatment) may vary by patient (Urology 2000;55:578)
- Incomplete emptying may cause urinary tract infections, although most patients are asymptomatic
Case reports
- 4 month old boy (J Pediatr Urol 2008;4:255)
- 15 month old boy with complete bladder duplication in the sagittal plane (Eur J Pediatr Surg 2009;19:410)
- 3 year old boy with no other anomalies (Urology 2006;68:1121.e1)
- 12 year old boy with bladder and colonic duplication (Saudi J Kidney Dis Transpl 2008;19:87)
Treatment
- In some cases, needed for infections or to achieve continence
Radiology images
Images hosted on other servers:
Cystourethrogram shows complete bladder duplication
