Common genital dermatoses in male patients attending a public sexually transmitted disease clinic in Singapore.

The male genitalia is a common site of various dermatoses. Male patients attending a sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic may present with dermatoses that are not due to sexually transmitted diseases. A prospective study on 467 male patients attending a public STD clinic showed various dermatoses which were either anatomical variants (pearly penile papules in 67 patients [14.3%], sebaceous hyperplasia in 16 [3.4%], Tyson's glands in 32 [7%] and penile melanosis in 13 [2.8%]) or pathological conditions (balanitis in 45 [9.6%], eczema in 10 [2.1%], traumatic ulcers in 10 [2.1%], folliculitis and furunculosis in 8 [1.7%], scabietic nodules in 7 [1.5%], genital candidiasis in 7 [1.5%] and a few miscellaneous conditions). Fifty percent of the patients with Tyson's glands also had pearly penile papules. Most of the anatomical variants were incidental findings whereas most patients with the pathological dermatoses presented with these lesions. Unfamiliarity with these dermatoses may cause unnecessary anxiety to the patient and physician, resulting in inappropriate treatment.