Man Goes Into Hospital With Hernia But Doctors Find Female Genitalia
The 67-year-old had been suffering with a lump for 10 years
A man who went to hospital for a hernia operation was found to have female genitalia.
The 67-year-old, from Kosovo, was undergoing surgery after complaining of swelling in his groin, which he had had for over a decade, when doctors made the discovery.
According to the Urology Case Reports journal, the dad-of-three had been born with only one descended testicle, and doctors diagnosed him with an inguinal hernia.
This is when tissue pokes through into the groin at the top of the inner thigh.
However, on closer inspection, surgeons found that the curious mass was in fact hiding a uterus, a cervix, fallopian tube and ovary, as well as his undescended testicle.
And the man was later diagnosed with an incredibly rare condition known as Persistent Mullerian duct syndrome (PDMS).
Only a couple of hundred of cases of the condition have ever been reported.
It occurs when men develop female reproductive organs as well as their scrotum and penis.
According to the report, it's the result of the early stages of the womb - the Mullerian duct - failing to break down during a male's development.
During the surgery, doctors removed the mass, which contained the atrophic testicle, uterus and fallopian tubes, as well as four tumours.
The report concluded: "Persistent Mullerian duct syndrome is a rare form of male pseudo-hermaphroditism detected coincidently during surgical operation on cryptorchidism or inguinal hernia.
"Ovarian tissue is well attached to the testis and epididymis, also located in other places resembling to a tumor of these structures.
"Vascular and tubular structures often are not well detached from uterus and cervix.
"In these cases, it is better not to perform hysterectomy in order to avoid the damage of vascularization of testis and ductus.
"In case if uterus remains in abdominal cavity there is no increased risk of pathological changes."
Last year, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson revealed that he once underwent a hernia operation after suffering a horrific wrestling injury.
Responding to a comment criticising his abs, the actor said: "... I tore the top of my quad off my pelvis, it went bang, in a wrestling match.
"And then what that did was that caused a chain reaction and it tore my abdomen wall, so then I had to do a triple hernia emergency surgery, of a tear, a tear and a tear [pointing to each tear].
"So they're not like perfect abs."
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Science
Dominic Smithers