Reduced birth weight in boys with hypospadias: an index of androgen dysfunction?

Anthropometric birth measurements analysed for 51 boys with hypospadias identified in a prospective cohort study showed significant reductions in mean values for birth weight, length, and head circumference compared with controls. The absence of the usual sex dimorphism for these variables suggests that the results represent a marker of fetal androgen dysfunction in this subgroup of infants.