Management of children with disorders of sex development: 20-year experience in southern Thailand

Somchit Jaruratanasirikul, Vorapun Engchaun

Songkhla, Thailand

Author Affiliations: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai 90110, Songkhla, Thailand (Jaruratanasirikul S, Engchaun V)

Corresponding Author: Somchit Jaruratanasirikul, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai 90110, Songkhla, Thailand (Tel: 66-074-429618; Fax: 66-074-429618; Email: somchit.j@psu.ac.th)

doi: 10.1007/s12519-013-0418-0

Background: Disorders of sex development (DSD) is a group of sexual differentiation disorders resulting in genital anomalies with defects in gonadal hormone synthesis and/or incomplete genital development. These conditions result in problems concerning the sex assignment of the child. This study aims to describe the clinical features, diagnosis and management of children with DSD in southern Thailand.

Methods: The medical records of 117 pediatric patients diagnosed with DSD during the period of 1991-2011 were retrospectively reviewed.

Results: Disorders of sex development were categorized into 3 groups: sex chromosome abnormalities (53.0%), 46,XX DSD (29.9%) and 46,XY DSD (17.1%). The two most common etiologies of DSD were Turner syndrome (36.8%) and congenital adrenal hyperplasia (29.9%). Ambiguous genitalia/intersex was the main problem in 46,XX DSD (94%) and 46,XY DSD (100%). Sex reassignment was done in 5 children (4.3%) at  age of 3-5 years: from male to female in 4 children (1 patient with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, 1 patient  with 45,X/46,XY DSD, and 2 patients with 46,XX ovotesticular DSD) and from female to male in 1 patient with 46,XX ovotesticular DSD. Of the total 20 children with 46,XY DSD, 16 (80%) were raised as females.

Conclusion: Management of DSD children has many aspects of concern. Sex assignment/reassignment depends on the phenotype (phallus size) of the external genitalia rather than the sex chromosome.

Key words: ambiguous genitalia; disorders of sex development; genital ambiguity; gonadal dysgenesis; intersex; sex assignment

World J Pediatr 2014;10(2):168-174