A case of acute spontaneous gangrenous balanoposthitis

Gangrenous and phagedenic balanoposthitis are in most cases a complication of ulcers of venereal origin: ulcus durum, ulcus molle and ulcus mixtum. Occasionally they appear after a perverted coitus, with diseases of the oral cavity (stomatitis, angina Vincenti), after coitus per rectum (with a disease of the rectum). In some cases, the reasons can be traumatic, thermal, chemical, inappropriate therapy. Often, with unclean maintenance of the genitals, partners after coitus may experience vulgar erosions, which cause balanoposthitis. But often gangrenous and phagedenic balanoposthitis can occur completely independently (spontaneously), when none of the above reasons can be found, even without previous coitus. Such spontaneous gangrenous balanoposthitis was first described in 1883 by Fournier; it is characterized by the fact that it occurs in full health and is extremely intense.