Posterior urethral obstruction: valvular or diaphragmatic? Endoscopic diagnosis and treatment.

Young's classification of posterior urethral valves has been criticized because clinically only type 1 valves have been observed. However, with a certain technique of postmortem examination the obstruction has been found to be caused by a fenestrated diaphragm. When reevaluating the photographs and motion pictures taken during endoscopies it was concluded that the obstructions were diaphragmatic. The earlier controversial conclusions can be attributed to questionable methods of examination and misinterpretation of the findings. On the basis of the anatomic structure of diaphragmatic obstruction, the endoscopic anterior resection used by the author can be considered a logical and effective method of treatment.