Neovaginoplasty Using Nile Tilapia Fish Skin as a New Biologic Graft in Patients with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser Syndrome

Maria Tereza Pinto Medeiros Dias, Andreisa Paiva Monteiro Bilhar, Livia Cunha Rios, Bruno Almeida Costa, Edmar Maciel Lima Júnior, Ana Paula Negreiros Nunes Alves, Zenilda Vieira Bruno, Manoel Odorico de Moraes Filho, Leonardo Robson Pinheiro Sobreira Bezerra

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome is the second most common cause of primary amenorrhea, trailing only to gonadal dysgenesis. Neovaginoplasty is an appropriate treatment option for patients who have failed dilation therapy. Several biomaterials have been used in this procedure, including peritoneum, amnion, skin grafts, and myocutaneous flaps. Nile Tilapia Fish Skin has noninfectious microbiota, morphologic structure comparable to human skin, and high in vivo bioresorption. In addition, it showed good outcomes when used as a xenograft for burn treatment. Thus, we suggest it as a new biologic graft for vaginal agenesis management. In this descriptive study, neovaginoplasty using Nile Tilapia Fish Skin offered 3 patients an anatomic and functional neovagina via a simple method with potential long-term effectiveness. When postsurgical dilation was performed correctly, a vaginal length greater than 6 cm was maintained at 180 days follow-up. Histologic and immunohistochemical analyses revealed the presence of stratified squamous epithelium with high expression of cytokeratins and fibroblast growth factor, matching the characteristics of normal adult vaginal tissue. We believe that further studies will show Nile Tilapia Fish Skin to be a relevant option in the therapeutic arsenal of Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)966-972
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology
Volume27
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 May 2020
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome
  • Neovagina
  • Tilapia
  • Vaginal agenesis
  • Vaginoplasty

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