Gynaecological problems in childhood and adolescence

Chapter 41 Gynaecological problems in childhood and adolescence




INTERSEX


The first question a mother asks after her baby has been born is ‘Is it a boy or a girl?’ The answer is given after looking at the infant’s genitals, but in two neonates out of 10 000 the genital sex is ambiguous and the child is judged as being intersex.


Most neonates with ambiguous genitals are genetically female and have congenital adrenal hyperplasia. A few have an adrenal tumour or drug-induced virilism. In rare cases the neonate is a hermaphrodite, having a testis, an ovary and ambiguous external genitals.




Other causes of intersex


Other varieties of intersexuality are not diagnosed until after puberty, when menstruation fails to start. They include gonadal dysgenesis (Turner’s syndrome), testicular feminization (androgen insensitivity syndrome) and Klinefelter’s syndrome (seminiferous tubular dysgenesis).


Jun 15, 2016 | Posted by in OBSTETRICS | Comments Off on Gynaecological problems in childhood and adolescence

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