children s health issues
Male Hypogonadism in Children
Primary Hypogonadism
Primary hypogonadism occurs when there is a problem in the testes. Klinefelter Syndrome occurs in about 1 in every 500 male births. It is caused by a . Boys tend to be tall with abnormally long arms and legs, may develop breast tissue ( Breast enlargement in men ), and often have low muscle mass and less facial and body hair compared to other boys. The syndrome is usually first identified at puberty, when inadequate sexual development is noted, or later, when infertility is investigated. In cryptorchidism ( Undescended Testes and Retractile Testes ), one or both of the testes remain in the abdomen. Usually the testes descend into the scrotum shortly before birth. At birth, about 3% of boys have undescended testes, but, in most of them, the testes spontaneously descend on their own within the first 4 months of life. The cause of cryptorchidism is usually unknown. Undescended testes are treated with surgery within the first year of life. Vanishing testes syndrome (bilateral anorchia) occurs in about 1 in every 20,000 male births. The testes are likely present during early development in the womb but are resorbed by the body before or shortly after birth. Without testes, children cannot producetestosteroneor sperm. Withouttestosteroneor sperm, they cannot develop male secondary sexual characteristics (such as facial hair and muscle mass) and are infertile. Absence of Leydig cells (cells in the testes that normally producetestosterone) leads to the development of partially developed genitals or ambiguous genitals. Ambiguous genitals are not clearly male or female. These defects develop because not enoughtestosteroneis produced to stimulate the fetus to develop normal male genitals. Noonan Syndrome results in small testes that do not produce enough 