The authors have reviewed 80 cases of ectopic ureter in 74 patients (62 women and 12 men). In most cases the abnormality involved the upper part of a double ureter system, and the extravesical openings were not only ectopic (located within or, most commonly, below the vesical sphincter in women), but also malformed with stenosis and/or reflux. The kidneys drained were damaged by dysplasia and/or interstitial nephritis. The presenting symptoms were fever, abdominal pain and disorders of micturition; incontinence, exclusively found in women, took only second rank. The purulent urine discharged could pass for leucorrhoea. Diagnosis was made by intravenous urography and by clinical or endoscopic finding of the ectopic opening.