Balanitis Xerotica Obliterans

Balanitis xerotica obliterans (post-operationem) is the term which Stühmer1used in 1928 to describe an atrophic, shrinking process involving the glans and prepuce and frequently leading to urethral stenosis. On the basis of his first 5 cases Stühmer concluded that, although there was a close relation among various sclerosing processes of the male genitals described in the literature under the titles of leukoplakia and kraurosis, the condition in his cases was singular in that it developed in men in the second and third decades and followed circumcision for phimosis. In a second article he2described 4 more similar cases and expressed the opinion that balanitis xerotica obliterans was not identical with either kraurosis or leukoplakia of the male genitals. Stiihmer's euphonious title became a popular one; and several cases of sclerotic, atrophic dermatoses of the glans and prepuce have been reported before various foreign societies under the same