Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in a 13-Year-Old Boy

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is most common in men 40 years and above. It rarely occurs in childhood. As a result of the scarcity of cases, the  pathogenesis is not clear, and treatment of BPH in this age group is challenging. This report focuses on a 13-year-old patient diagnosed with a  histologically confirmed BPH, having presented with a 2-year history of recurrent hematuria and acute urinary retention. Magnetic resonance imaging  (MRI) revealed a 287 g prostatic mass, with no signs of malignancy nor metastasis detected. A decision for open suprapubic prostatectomy was made.  Postoperative follow-up at 1 year was uneventful. The possible causes of juvenile BPH have been postulated as gonadotropin supplementation for  cryptorchidism and human chorionic gonadotropin-containing agent use by the mother during pregnancy. Our case had a history of the right inguinal  undescended testis with scrotal orchidopexy done at 11 years of age. However, the patient had no history of human chorionic gonadotropin use,  endocrinologic abnormality, or other possible contributing factors. His antenatal history was normal, with no use of human chorionic gonadotropin by  the mother. Due to the very few reported cases, there is insufficient data to help understand the pathogenesis of childhood BPH.