Late circumcision and lichen sclerosus et atrophicus of the penis.

We retrieved the records of 20 cases of lichen sclerosus et atrophicus of the penis from pathology service files at five metropolitan hospitals. Histologic sections were available for study in 16 cases. All patient records were available. All cases except one (that of a 14-year-old boy) occurred in men aged 34 to 77 years. Most of the patients (14) were circumcised for phimosis, often with meatal stenosis, and the diagnosis was made on the foreskin specimen. The remaining six patients had already been circumcised, at ages 32 to 54 years, and had lichen sclerosus et atrophicus of the glans penis. Therefore in this series of patients, the condition occurred only in patients circumcised late in life. This must be considered when a decision about neonatal circumcision is made.