To fuel my current fascination for all things medical, I’ve been on a House marathon of sorts. In less than a week, I’ve managed to watch over 35 episodes of the 45 minute medical drama. Sure most of the jargon manages to fly by but I’ve come to a point where I can tell the difference between Vasculitis and Pericardiitis. Not really, but still.
But the episode Skin Deep from Season 2 had me utterly speechless for a couple of hours. A 15 year old female supermodel gets admitted after blacking out on the ramp. After a series of differential diagnoses, the doctors think she may have a psychological condition resulting from abuse. However, after an MRI of her pelvic area, House concludes she has a tumor on her testes.
Yes, testes. Apparently the patient had male Pseudohermaphroditism.
Genital and gonadal sex determinations are discordant in cases of pseudohermaphroditism e.g. an apparently female individual may have testes (a male pseudohermaphrodite).
There are two main causes of pseudohermaphroditism:
- genetic causes e.g. testicular feminisation
- teratogenic e.g. in utero exposure of a female to androgens
House goes on to explain that the she was really supposed to be a he whose genitals just didn’t drop. According to our man House, this actually happens to about 1 in 150,000 fetuses.
So next time you see a pretty girl, mull this over.
Michelle
October 6, 2007
i believe most of them have conflicting issues with their bodies because they do feel different, there’s hormonal issues, and pscyhological too. it’s hard life if one is “trapped” in the wrong body.