Psychopathological aspects of cryptorchidism in children and adolescents

In the male sexual and aggressive drives are mostly centered on the penis, whose real or fantasied features strongly affect the way children and adole scents buildup their own personal and gender identity. In some clinical con ditions a shift of genital centrality from penis to testicles is evident. T he most frequent is abnormality in the descent of testicles, especially cry ptorchidism, characterized by an arrested descent of one or two testicles t hat remain in the abdomen. The aim of this paper is to define mechanisms by which cryptorchidism increases psychological vulnerability Time of diagnos is and treatment, restoration of genital integrity, personality stability a nd familial interactions are considered as elements affecting psychopatholo gical outcome. Behavioral and psychological features in children and adoles cents with cryptorchidism are reviewed. A case report of an adolescent with unilateral cryptorchidism is reported and discussed, as an example of pube rtal distortion in bodily and gender identity.