Doctors have discovered a rare and extremely unexpected surprise during a simple hernia removal surgery.
After 10 years of enduring a swelling mass in his groin, a man has finally revealed the root of the cause… a series of female organs.
Yep, you read that right… A 67-year-old underwent hernia surgery only to reveal the mass was made up of a cervix, uterus, and fallopian tube.
The father of three reported having an undescended testicle from birth but was not aware that female reproductive organs had been growing off it.
Doctors reported in a publication of Urology Case Reports that, “The patient had primary and secondary sexual normal characteristics. He was married and had three kids.”
The publication also revealed that the man presented with a normal and well-developed penis, which is apparently not unusual.
The one significant difference with this case… surgery revealed a hernia containing female genital parts, including a uterus with a cervix and fallopian tube and other ovarian tissue.
Upon further investigation, doctors were able to determine that the man had a very rare type of hermaphrodism… probably not what he was expecting to tell his kids at the next family dinner.
“A collection of literature shows that in patients with intra-abdominal testes, both gonads are found in analogous position with the ovaries, with a rudimentary uterus at the center where the remains of the Muller ducts [ducts in embryos that go on to become the fallopian tubes, the uterus, the cervix and part of the vagina] inhibit the mobilization of the testes to the scrotum,” the authors wrote in their report.
The operating team were able to remove all of the abnormal structures without complication.
The condition is labelled Persistent Mullerian duct syndrome and is a rare form of male pseudo-hermaphrodism.
The ovarian tissue is attached to the testes and epididymis but can also be found on other structures resembling tumour-like masses. Usually, the condition is uncovered earlier in life.
Can a man give birth to a baby?
Persistent Mullerian Duct Syndrome (PMDS) is a condition where a person develops… http://t.co/cdrGfyvzqb
— St. Nicholas Hospital (@StNicholas_ng) February 11, 2015
This particular condition is usually found by accident and is very rare with only 250 cases ever reported in literature.
Let’s hope the doctors bulk-billed this lad as he certainly got more than he bargained for.
