Urethral obstruction to the urinary flow may be brought about by a number of conditions. They are for the most part the result of inflammatory processes in the urethra itself, or of pressure on its lumen by the growth of surrounding structures, notably in prostate hypertrophy.
These changes acquired after birth are of frequent occurrence and are to be sharply distinguished from obstruction of the urethra present, although perhaps unrecognized, at the time of birth.
Without other reference to the interference with the urinary flow from gross malformation of the genito-urinary tract, and to the stricture of the urethra due to occlusion or narrowing of its external orifice, or of the pars navicularis, we wish to report an instance of a form of congenital membranous obstruction occurring in the prostatic portion of the urethra, because apparently this condition has not attracted the attention, at least in this country, that it