Nowadays, the surgical treatment of male-tofemale
transsexuals is not rare, but few studies have
reported on postoperative results. The aim of this study
was to determine the role of magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) in the evaluation of the results of sex reassignment
surgery (SRS) in male-to-female transsexual patients.
Ten such patients (median age 28 years, range 21–
47), who had undergone SRS using an inversion of
combined penile and scrotal skin flaps for vaginoplasty,
were examined with MRI after the operation. Turbo
spin-echo T2-weighted and spin-echo T1-weighted images
were obtained on sagittal, coronal, and axial planes
with a 1.5 T superconducting magnet. The images were
acquired on the sagittal, coronal and axial planes, by
using TSE T2 weighted and SG T1 weighted images.
MRI was performed within 2 weeks after the operation
in six patients and after 1 year in the other four. In all
cases, the images were obtained with and without an
inflatable silicon vaginal tutor. The average neovaginal
depth was 7.9 cm (range 6–10 cm). In four patients,
MRI showed the presence of cavernosal rests, and in two
there were remnants of the corpus spongiosus. In another
patient, an abnormal anterior inclination of the
neovagina was present. The average distance of the
recto-vaginal septum was 4 mm (range 3–6 mm). No
major complications were noted. Our study allowed not
only a detailed assessment of the pelvic anatomy after
genital reconfiguration, but also provided valuable
information on possible complications.
