The curvature is usually most obvious during erection, but resistance to straightening is often apparent in the flaccid state as well.

This is not the same condition as Peyronie's disease, which involves curvature of the shaft of the penis most commonly due to injury during adult life.

When the curved penis is small and accompanied by hypospadias, deficiency of prenatal androgen effect can be inferred.

[citation needed] A chordee may be caused by an underlying condition, such as a disorder of sex development or an intersex condition, or from a complication of circumcision,[2][3] though some medical professionals do not consider it to be true chordee because the corporal bodies are normally formed.

[4] However, not all congenital chordee includes abnormal corpora, and case reports of damage to the corpus cavernosum from circumcision are noted in the literature; particularly as a complication of local anesthetic.