Formation of an artificial vagina in a case of testicular feminization.

THE syndrome of testicular feminization is found in persons of female phenotype, which includes female external genitalia, who have primary amenorrhoea; the labia tend to be underdeveloped, the vagina ends blindly and the cervix is absent. Usually pubic and axillary hair is scanty or absent after puberty and breast development is good. The internal genitals are absent or rudimentary and the gonads, which may be intraabdominal or in the inguinal canal, are testes (Morris, 1953). The chromosomes appear normal with XY sex chomosomes. The condition is inherited, either in a sex-linked recessive or sexlimited dominant manner (Taillard & Prader, 1957). Although the vagina may be of sufficient length to allow of coitus, this is not always the case. Reports on the surgical correction of the inadequate vagina are rare and we would like to report on the management of a patient with testicular feminization who requested plastic enlargement prior to marriage.