Effman Classification of urethral duplication

Last revised by Jeremy Jones on 30 Apr 2022

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Et-tahir Y, Jones J, Effman Classification of urethral duplication. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 19 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-99431

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-99431

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/99431

rID:

99431

Article created:

30 Apr 2022, Youness Et-tahir

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Youness Et-tahir had no recorded disclosures.

View Youness Et-tahir's current disclosures

Last revised:

30 Apr 2022, Jeremy Jones ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Jeremy Jones had the following disclosures:

Radiopaedia Events Pty Ltd, Jeremy is a director of Radiopedia Events Pty Ltd (ongoing)

These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.

View Jeremy Jones's current disclosures

Revisions:

2 times, by 2 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Urogenital, Paediatrics

Sections:

Classifications

The Effman classification is a widely adopted system to classify the several distinct types of urethral duplication. It's considered to be the most complete classification from a clinical and functional point of view, but it's only based on male forms and does not distinguish sagittal from coronal duplications.

type IIA1: Two totally independent urethras arising separately from the bladder
type IIA2: accessory urethra arising from the main one and courses independently toward its own meatus
type IIA2-Y: A particular form of IIA2 type with a ventral urethra opening in the perinium, referred to as congenital posterior urethro-perineal fistula (CUPF)
type IIB: Two urethras arising separately from the bladder and unite distally to open in one meatus

Type III

Urethral duplication associated with caudal duplication

History and etymology

This classification was initially set by Effman, Lebowman and Colodny in 1976, and later modified by Bello in 2014, including CUPF as a type IIA2-Y since it has a different treatment compared to other IIA2 type defects.