This septuagenarian decided to donate his body to science after his death. Scientists made this extraordinary discovery during its dissection.
Written on 17/10/2024
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A three-piece service that truly lives up to its name. On October 9, 2024, British researchers revealed the astonishing medical case of a man born with three penises, reports the Daily Mail. This congenital malformation called “triphallia” is extremely rare.
Also read: A man born with two penises opens up about his extraordinary sex life
Only one “functional” penis
The man, a 78-year-old British man, most likely lived his entire life without even knowing that he suffered from this malformation. The discovery was in fact made after his death, following the donation of his body to science. Details of this exceptional case study have been published in the journal Journal of Medical Case Reports.
How could this septuagenarian never notice that he had three times more genitals than ordinary mortals? Only one of the three penises was actually functional. The other two, smaller sizes, were located under the skin, between the scrotum and the “main” penis.
In their case study, scientists from the University of Birmingham School of Medicine reported that around one in five to six million boys could be born with more than one penis. Almost all of these births concern cases of “diphallia”, i.e. infants born with two penises. Cases of “triphallia” are much rarer, since only one precedent had been reported in the scientific literature: a young three-month-old Iraqi boy operated on in 2020 to remove the two excess penises.
Urinary infections and erectile dysfunction
This new case of ‘triphallia’ was discovered when medical students from the University of Birmingham dissected the man’s body. They were then able to study this extraordinary malformation as they wished. As with traditional cases of “diphallia”, the second penis had most of the characteristics of the functional penis. On the other hand, the third penis was anatomically different from the other two.
In particular, it did not have a corpus spongiosum and the urethral canal did not pass through this penis. Which suggests to researchers that man had been able to live with “functional deficits” due to these extranumerary penises, such as urinary infections, erectile dysfunction or fertility problems.
Causes and factors that are still little known
The man may also have suffered from other rather disturbing complications during his life, since the researchers do not exclude that “potential erection of secondary and tertiary penises” could have caused dyspareunia. Or persistent or recurrent genital pain that occurs before, during or after sexual intercourse.
Scientists remain perplexed as to the cause of these extra penises. There are no known risk factors and in the majority of cases, the malformation is detected at birth, or a few months later, when the first complications arise. The excess penises are then removed through surgery.
The Health Mag – France 5
