Is cognitive processing affected in adults with hypospadias?: P300 study

BACKGROUND: Hypospadias is a common urogenital system disorder. The frenulum, which is the most sensitive area of the glans penis, is not present in patients with hypospadias. This may lead to a failure in sexual and ejaculatory function, and cause emotional problems affecting cognitive processes. AIM: We aimed to study auditory Event Related Potentials (ERP) in patients with hypospadias to understand the status of cognitive function. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen patients with hypospadias who presented to the Urology Outpatient Clinic of Çanakkale Military Hospital, and 11 healthy individuals of similar age were chosen. The auditory oddball paradigm with ERP from the Cz and Fz head regions were studied. The latency and amplitude of the P300 wave were measured. RESULTS: Both, the study and control groups consisted of young males. Although the study group had a longer P300 latency and lower P300 amplitude when compared to control group, the results were not statistically significant (p: 0.059 and 0.346 respectively). CONCLUSION: Although the results are not statistically significant, our findings indicate that there may be cognitive changes in patients with hypospadias. Further studies of larger sample size and older patient cohorts are needed.