YOUR CHILD'S HEALTH
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Urology problems in children usually aren’t life-threatening, but they can have a tremendous effect on kids’ lives. That’s why it’s important for children and teens to get help from experts who understand what they’re going through.

“Kids who have urology problems have to deal with many issues that can be difficult, especially as they get older and the need to be like everyone else is overwhelming,” says Amanda North, MD, a pediatric urologist at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) and assistant professor of Urology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. “Having urology disorders can have a huge psychological impact on the quality of their lives.”

COMMON UROLOGY PROBLEMS

Boys are more likely than girls to have urology problems, including hypospadias (when the opening of the urethra—the tube through which urine passes—is in an unusual location), undescended testicles and structural problems with the penis. Vesicoureteral reflux, a condition that occurs when urine backs up from the bladder into the kidneys, is more common in girls. Some children need one or more surgeries to correct urological defects.

“A decade ago, kids with urology problems needed major operations to restore normal or near-normal urological and sexual functions and to preserve their fertility,” Dr. North says. “But there have been such key advances in urological surgery that we can often use minimally invasive techniques to correct many of these issues. That means kids don’t have to live with severe scars or face extended hospital stays.”

MAJOR UROLOGY DISORDERS

Some kids born with significant urology defects, such as bladder exstrophy (when the bladder grows outside the body), require many surgeries and may have to deal with incontinence and other issues. There are few specialists available in the United States to treat patients with these problems and to continue monitoring their condition as they get older.

“Pediatric urology is a relatively new field,” says Dr. North, who trained under world-renowned pediatric urology specialists at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. “We’re now realizing that we need to follow kids with congenital urology problems through adolescence and adulthood and treat adults who are living with the effects of a urology problem that started at birth. My goal is to help patients for life so they can overcome challenges, live independently and have the best quality of life as possible.”

Photo of Dr. North For more information or to schedule a consultation with Dr. North, please call 718-920-7479.