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CASE REPORT article

Front. Surg.

Sec. Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery

Laparoscopic vaginoplasty in one case of Partial Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome and literature review of 16 cases in China

Provisionally accepted
Haixia  QinHaixia Qin1Huaqian  LiuHuaqian Liu2Qiang  LiuQiang Liu3*Baiou  LiBaiou Li4
  • 1Beijing iKang Bayley & Jackson Medical Center, Beijing, China
  • 2Huayan Stem Cell Technology (Shaanxi) Co., Ltd., Xi’an, China
  • 3The First Affiliated Hospital of Northwest University (Xi'an NO.1 Hospital), Xi’an, China
  • 4Minimally Invasive & Reproductive Medicine Centre, The Affiliated Hospital of Northwest University, Angel Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Xi’an, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Background: To examine the clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, and future gender choice of patients with partial androgen insensitivity syndrome (PAIS). Case Presentation: The clinical features, specialty examinations, three-stage surgical exploration, and treatment process of a patient with PAIS were comprehensively reviewed. Additionally, 16 PAIS case reports were collected from Chinese databases and analyzed. Seventeen PAIS cases were included in this study. All patients presented with primary amenorrhea (17/17) and displayed specific clinical features such as male social identity or appearance (3/17), underdeveloped phallus or clitoromegaly (16/17), abnormal urethral development (7/17), and breast development (4/17). Twelve cases were managed as females by surgery and hormone replacement therapy. The patient in this case report underwent three surgical procedures involving laparoscopic exploration and clitoroplasty, left orchidopexy, and laparoscopic vaginoplasty using peritoneum and acellular dermal matrix. Conclusions: PAIS is a rare disorder of sex development (DSD) with a 46,XY karyotype and a congenital X-linked recessive disease. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the pathogenesis of androgen insensitivity syndrome allows more accurate diagnosis, personalized treatment, and organized follow-up of the condition, thereby avoiding gender dysphoria.

Keywords: Androgen insensitivity syndrome, Urogenital Abnormalities, female masculinization, Laparoscopy, vaginoplasty, Acellular dermal matrix

Received: 10 Sep 2025; Accepted: 21 Nov 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Qin, Liu, Liu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Qiang Liu, 553295952@qq.com

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.