Comment on the prune belly syndrome: a 11-week fetus with megacystis.

An 11-week human fetus with megacystis, prostatic dysgenesis, and lateral displacement of the abdominal muscles is described. We suggest that a subtle outflow obstruction of the very early bladder may give rise to both bladder dilation and bladder wall dysgenesis. The bladder dilation may produce abdominal muscle dysplasia or atrophy and almost certainly produces dilation of the prostatic urethra. The dilation of the prostatic urethra disrupts the formation of the prostate.