Beijing: In a shocking discovery, a 66-year-old "apparently" male patient in Hong Kong found himself to be a woman when he went to a hospital seeking treatment for abdominal swelling.
Doctors found that the swelling was a cyst on his ovary and he was in fact a woman.
The case was reported by doctors from Hong Kong`s Kwong Wah Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, who treated the patient.
It was published in the Hong Kong Medical Journal yesterday, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
"The patient, by definition, is a woman who cannot get pregnant. But she also has congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), which gave her the appearance of a man," Chinese University paediatrics professor Ellis Hon Kam-lun said.
"It`s an interesting and very rare case of having the two combinations. It probably won`t be seen again in the near future," said.
The 66-year-old Vietnam-born Chinese man is an orphan.
He is just 1.37 metres tall and has decided to continue perceiving himself as a male and may receive male hormone treatment, the report said.
When pressed, he disclosed a long history of urinary leakage and arrest of growth after the age of 10 years.
Only six cases of a patient with both conditions have been reported in medical literature. This patient was diagnosed later in life than any of the others.
The condition was caused by a very rare combination of two genetic disorders and the Turner`s syndrome, which causes women to lack some female features, including the ability to get pregnant.
Sufferers usually look like women, but in this case the patient also had CAH, which boosted the male hormones and made the patient look like a man.
Turner`s syndrome has an estimated prevalence of one in 2,500 to 3,000 females.
Normal females have a pair of X chromosomes, while males have one X and one Y. Turner`s syndrome patients have only one X.
They usually had the appearance of girls and the condition was identified when they reached puberty and did not menstruate, Hon said.
Private gynaecologist Dr Kun Ka-yan said Turner`s syndrome was rarer now as most sufferers were identified in prenatal tests.
Women would usually choose an abortion as the disease can bring other health problems, including mental disability.
PTI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.