2-year-old boy has womb removed Tuoitrenews This file photo shows a boy being treated at the Pediatrics Hospital II in HCMC (for illustration only). Tuoi Tre While looking for another testicle in the abdomen of a boy who was hospitalized with only one testicle in his scrotum, doctors in Ho Chi Minh City were very surprised to discover a uterus as well. This extremely rare case was recorded recently when M.N.H, a baby born in Ca Mau Province, was taken to the Pediatrics Hospital II in Ho Chi Minh City by his parents who were concerned since there was only one testicle in H’s scrotum. After examination, doctors confirmed that H had normal male genital organs, except for the missing testicle. Therefore, they decided to perform an endoscopic surgery on the boy’s abdomen in hopes of finding the lost organ. But they were astonished to find a womb, along with a testicle that had been dislocated. Doctors removed the womb and placed the testicle in its correct location in the scrotum. The boy recovered quickly after the operation, doctors said. Dr. Pham Ngoc Thach, of the Urinogenital Department at the hospital, the main surgeon in the operation, said that in the future the boy will grow up into a man with normal reproductive and sexual health. Dr. Thach explained that the boy had suffered from a “syndrome involving the existence of the müllerian duct”. The duct is one of a pair of embryonic ducts that become the fallopian tubes, uterus, and vagina in females, and that atrophy in males, resulting in formation of the prostatic utricle, the doctor said. However, during the development process of a male fetus, a hormonal disorder may occur and prevent this atrophy from occurring. As a result, like in H’s case, the müllerian duct had developed into a uterus, Thach explained. A similar case happened in India in 2011, when a man was admitted to the Chhindwara district hospital near Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, after developing severe stomach pains. After diagnosing the problem as a normal hernia, doctors performed an exploratory operation, but they  were shocked to discover the pain had been caused by a female uterus, ovaries, Fallopian tubes, a cervix and underdeveloped vaginal tissue. The man had external male organs and lived a normal life, said Dr. Pramod Kumar Shrivastava, a surgeon at the hospital. The doctors removed the organs through a hysterectomy and repaired the hernia. According to Dr. Le Tan Son, head of the HCMC Medical and Pharmaceutical University, cases in which boys have genital organs that are identical or nearly identical to those of girls, or vice versa, are known as “sex development disorder.” He advised parents to pay attention to the private parts of their babies at birth to detect any abnormal conditions, if any, for timely treatment.