Abstract
Introduction The Hypospadias Objective Penile Evaluation Score (HOPE-Score) is a concise and reproducible
way to describe hypospadias severity. We classified boys undergoing primary hypospadias
repair to determine the correlation between the HOPE-Score and the severity of hypospadias
first and the outcome after surgery second.
Materials and Methods Patients who underwent primary hypospadias repair from 2005 to 2014 were identified.
An independent physician assessed retrospectively the HOPE-Score, using photographies
of the patients before, after primary surgery, and after all necessary surgeries.
The correlation between the HOPE-Score and the severity of hypospadias, on the one
hand, and the outcome after surgery, on the other hand, were analyzed.
Results The HOPE-Score was assessed preoperatively for 79 boys, postoperatively for 66, and
after all necessary surgeries for 21 patients. Mean HOPE-Score reached 30.2 ± 5.9
before surgery, 42.2 ± 6.1 after primary surgery, and 43.7 ± 3.4 after all necessary
surgeries. A significant correlation between the HOPE-Score and the severity of hypospadias
before surgery was observed. The boys with glanular hypospadias scored significantly
higher (36.3 ± 5.4) than those with distal (29.6 ± 4.4) and proximal hypospadias (21.1 ± 3.5).
Furthermore, a significant correlation between the HOPE-Score and the outcome after
hypospadias repair was observed. Patients who needed no reintervention after primary
hypospadias repair scored significantly higher postoperatively (45.1 ± 5.4) than those
who needed a second (40.8 ± 4.2) or more than two surgeries (36.9 ± 7.4).
Conclusion The HOPE-Score is a good system to assess the severity of hypospadias and the cosmetic
outcome after hypospadias repair.
Keywords
hypospadias - HOPE-Score - assessment - outcome