What urologists need to know about male to female genital confirmation surgery (vaginoplasty): techniques, complications and how to deal with them.

Vaginoplasty is the most commonly performed genital surgery for gender affirmation. Male-to-female (MTF) patients are roughly four times more likely to undergo genital surgery than female-to-male (FTM) patients. Penile inversion vaginoplasty is the most common technique used today, although there are also lesser used alternative methods including visceral interposition and pelvic peritoneal vaginoplasty. In general, outcomes are excellent, and many of the complications are self-limited. Most surgeons performing genital surgery for gender dysphoria adhere to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) guidelines for determining who is a candidate for surgery. Currently, there are no absolute contraindications to vaginoplasty in a patient who is of the age of majority in their country, only relative contraindications which include active smoking and morbid obesity. Important complications include flap necrosis, rectal and urethral injuries, rectal fistula, vaginal stenosis, and urethral fistula. When performed correctly in excellent surgical candidates by skilled surgeons, vaginoplasty can be a rewarding surgical endeavor for the patient and surgeon.

What urologists need to know about female-to-male genital confirmation surgery (phalloplasty and metoidioplasty): techniques, complications, and how to deal with them.

Transmasculine gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is technically challenging, and in the past associated with a high but improving complication rate. Few surgical centers are performing this surgery, which can include metoidioplasty and phalloplasty, and patients often travel great distances for their surgery. While many will continue care with their original surgeons, others cannot due to social/geographic factors, or because emergencies arise. Thus, patients may seek care with their local urologist for relief of delayed complications, the most common of which include urethral stricture, penile prosthesis issues and urethrocutaneous fistula. This review will discuss the surgical elements behind metoidioplasty and phalloplasty, and the diagnosis and treatment for the most common postoperative issues.

Clínica nodal y transexualismo a partir de una ficción cinematográfica / Nodal Clinic and Transsexualism from a Cinematographic Fiction

En el presente escrito abordaremos la temática del transexualismo a través del film The Danish Girl (Hooper, 2015). En él se narra la vida Einar Wegener, destacado artista plástico que sería conocido luego como Lili Elbe, la primera persona en someterse a una cirugía de reasignación de sexo. Para analizar el caso recurriremos a la clínica nodal propuesta Jacques Lacan en su Seminario El Sinthome, proponiendo una lectura novedosa a través de la trenza, y en articulación con algunos aportes de las fórmulas de la sexuación. Por último, enmarcaremos esta cuestión en el escenario del derecho a la identidad de género, como contribución a una tesis de maestría en curso.

In the present paper we will approach the subject of transsexualism through the film The Danish Girl (Hooper, 2015). It tells the story of Einar Wegener, a prominent plastic artist who would later be known as Lili Elbe, the first person to undergo sex reassignment surgery. To analyze the case we will resort to the nodal clinic created by Jacques Lacan in his El Sinthome Seminar, proposing a novel reading through the braid, and in articulation with some contributions of sexuation formulas. Finally, we will frame this issue in the context of the right to gender identity, as a contribution to an ongoing master's thesis.

[Adolescents with gender identity disorder: reconsideration of the age limits for endocrine treatment and surgery].

The third versions of the guideline for treatment of people with gender identity disorder (GID) of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology does not include puberty-delaying hormone therapy. It is recommended that feminizing/masculinizing hormone therapy and genital surgery should not be carried out until 18 year old and 20 year old, respectively. On the other hand, the sixth (2001) and the seventh (2011) versions of the standards of care for the health of transsexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming people of World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) recommend that transsexual adolescents (Tanner stage 2, [mainly 12-13 years of age]) are treated by the endocrinologists to suppress puberty with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists until age 16 years old, after which cross-sex hormones may be given. A questionnairing on 181 people with GID diagnosed in the Okayama University Hospital (Japan) showed that female to male (FTM) transsexuals hoped to begin masculinizing hormone therapy at age of 15.6 +/- 4.0 (mean +/- S.D.) whereas male to female (MTF) transsexuals hoped to begin feminizing hormone therapy as early as age 12.5 +/- 4.0, before presenting secondary sex characters. After confirmation of strong and persistent cross-gender identification, adolescents with GID should be treated with cross-gender hormone or puberty-delaying hormone to prevent developing undesired sex characters. These treatments may prevent transsexual adolescents from attempting suicide, being depressive, and refusing to attend school. Subsequent early breast and genital surgery may help being employed in desired sexuality.

[Improvement of therapeutic environment--effort to establish the medical center for GID in a general hospital].

Treatment for gender identity disorder (GID) should be done in cooperation with psychologist, gynecologist, urologist, plastic surgeon and extramural scholars as a team treatment. And if possible, it should be a comprehensive treatment with supports of a social worker, a coordinator and an expert nurse. The ethical committee for individual GID patient treatment has already dissolved according to the third edition of the guideline. We call the therapeutic team Okayama University Hospital Gender Center. It treats not only GID patients, but also gender associated diseases such as disorders of sex development (DSD). Unfortunately, there are not so many institutions which meet our conditions throughout the country. In the present circumstances we can't go along with their needs. So many GID patients go abroad and have Sex reassignment surgery (SRS). To solve this problem national insurance for SRS should be approved as soon as possible and many institutes should start GID treatment.

Desafíos quirúrgicos de las anomalías del desarrollo sexual / The surgical challenges of disorders of sex development (DSD)

Las Anomalías del Desarrollo Sexual (ADS) siguen siendo un desafío fascinante para los pediatras, endocrinos, biólogos, psiquiatras, genetistas, radiólogos, cirujanos y para toda la sociedad. Este artículo busca destacar las controversias y cuestiones actuales de la reconstrucción genital en niños nacidos con genitales anormales. Se revisan las principales técnicas actuales de masculinización y feminización junto con sus progresos y sus problemas. Se discuten las herramientas de decisión utilizadas para asignar un género en algunos recién nacidos con ADS complejas mostrando que en el amanecer del tercer milenio, uno todavía no conoce por qué un niño es un niño y una niña es una niña(AU)

Disorders of Sex Development (DSD) remain a fascinating challenge for the paediatricians, endocrinologists, biologists, psychiatrists, geneticists, radiologists, surgeons and for the whole society. This article aims at highlighting the current controversies and questions met with genital reconstruction in children born with abnormal genitalia. The main current techniques of masculinization and feminization are reviewed with their progress and their problems. The tools of decision used to assign a gender in some newborns with complex DSD are discussed showing that at the dawn of the third mille-nium, one still does not know why a boy is a boy, and a girl is a girl(AU)

From mental disorder to iatrogenic hypogonadism: dilemmas in conceptualizing gender identity variants as psychiatric conditions.

The categorization of gender identity variants (GIVs) as "mental disorders" in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association is highly controversial among professionals as well as among persons with GIV. After providing a brief history of GIV categorizations in the DSM, this paper presents some of the major issues of the ongoing debate: GIV as psychopathology versus natural variation; definition of "impairment" and "distress" for GID; associated psychopathology and its relation to stigma; the stigma impact of the mental-disorder label itself; the unusual character of "sex reassignment surgery" as a psychiatric treatment; and the consequences for health and mental-health services if the disorder label is removed. Finally, several categorization options are examined: Retaining the GID category, but possibly modifying its grouping with other syndromes; narrowing the definition to dysphoria and taking "disorder" out of the label; categorizing GID as a neurological or medical rather than a psychiatric disorder; removing GID from both the DSM and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD); and creating a special category for GIV in the DSM. I conclude that-as also evident in other DSM categories-the decision on the categorization of GIVs cannot be achieved on a purely scientific basis, and that a consensus for a pragmatic compromise needs to be arrived at that accommodates both scientific considerations and the service needs of persons with GIVs.

The DSM diagnostic criteria for gender identity disorder in adolescents and adults.

Apart from some general issues related to the Gender Identity Disorder (GID) diagnosis, such as whether it should stay in the DSM-V or not, a number of problems specifically relate to the current criteria of the GID diagnosis for adolescents and adults. These problems concern the confusion caused by similarities and differences of the terms transsexualism and GID, the inability of the current criteria to capture the whole spectrum of gender variance phenomena, the potential risk of unnecessary physically invasive examinations to rule out intersex conditions (disorders of sex development), the necessity of the D criterion (distress and impairment), and the fact that the diagnosis still applies to those who already had hormonal and surgical treatment. If the diagnosis should not be deleted from the DSM, most of the criticism could be addressed in the DSM-V if the diagnosis would be renamed, the criteria would be adjusted in wording, and made more stringent. However, this would imply that the diagnosis would still be dichotomous and similar to earlier DSM versions. Another option is to follow a more dimensional approach, allowing for different degrees of gender dysphoria depending on the number of indicators. Considering the strong resistance against sexuality related specifiers, and the relative difficulty assessing sexual orientation in individuals pursuing hormonal and surgical interventions to change physical sex characteristics, it should be investigated whether other potentially relevant specifiers (e.g., onset age) are more appropriate.

Familiality of gender identity disorder in non-twin siblings.

Familial studies and reports of co-occurrence of gender identity disorder (GID) within a family may help to clarify the question of whether transsexualism is a familial phenomenon. In a sample of 995 consecutive transsexual probands (677 male-to-female [MF] and 318 female-to-male [FM]), we report 12 pairs of transsexual non-twin siblings (nine pairs of MF siblings, two pairs of MF-FM siblings, and one pair of FM siblings). The present study doubles the number of case reports of co-occurrence of transsexualism in non-twin siblings available in the literature. According to our data, the probability that a sibling of a transsexual will also be transsexual was 4.48 times higher for siblings of MF than for siblings of FM transsexual probands, and 3.88 times higher for the brothers than for the sisters of transsexual probands. Moreover, the prevalence of transsexualism in siblings of transsexuals (1/211 siblings) was much higher than the range expected according to the prevalence data of transsexualism in Spain. The study suggests that siblings of transsexuals may have a higher risk of being transsexual than the general population, and that the risk is higher for brothers than sisters of transsexuals, and for siblings of MF than FM transsexuals. Nevertheless, the risk is low.

Feminització quirúrgica. Lògica o obligada? / Feminización quirúrgica. ¿lógica u obligada? / Surgical feminization. Logical or obligatory?

Pacient de 13 anys d’edat, de sexe cromosòmic 46 XY i de sexe social femení, etiquetada com a síndrome de feminització testicular que va acudir a la consulta per realitzar la feminització dels seus genitals externs. En no coincidir les dades anamnèsiques amb l’exploració física i els exàmens complementaris, aprofitant la intervenció feminitzant es va fer un cultiu de fibroblastes de pell genital i un estudi del DNA de limfòcits de sang perifèrica que van posar de manifest la presència de dues mutacions que expliquen el dèficit de l’enzim 5 reductasa per mutació en el seu gen (AU)

Paciente de 13 años de edad, de sexo cromosómico 46 XY y de sexo social femenino, etiquetada de síndrome de feminización testicular que acudió a la consulta para realizar la feminización de sus genitales externos. Al no coincidir los datos anamnésicos con la exploración física y los exámenes complementarios, en el curso de la intervención feminizante se hizo un cultivo de fibroblastos de piel genital y un estudio del DNA de linfocitos de sangre perifé- rica que pusieron de manifiesto la presencia de dos mutaciones que explican el déficit del enzima 5 reductasa por mutación en su gen (AU)

A 13 year-old patient was referred to undergo surgical feminization of her external genitalia. The patient had male chromosomal sex (46 XY) and female social sex, and had been diagnosed with testicular feminization syndrome. Since physical examination and laboratory evaluation did not fit with the clinical history, a biopsy of genital skin was performed and fibroblasts were isolated for culture, and peripheral blood lymphocytes were analyzed. These studies demonstrated the presence of 2 mutations resulting in lack of 5 reductase (AU)