ABC News The woman, who was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, was 18 when she took part in the study. ground-breaking study where doctors used cells to grow vaginas in a lab said she now leads a normal life thanks to the surgery. The unidentified patient was one of four Mexican women with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, a rare genetic condition that causes the vagina to be absent or underdeveloped, who took part in the revolutionary study.
The women were between the ages of 13 and 18 when researchers from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., and the Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City turned small samples of their tissue into new organs.
ABC News A team of American and Mexican scientists successfully grew vaginas from the patients' cells. The custom-built vaginas were then successfully implanted into each of the women, according to a study published in the journal The Lancet.
"For me to be able to have the surgery, I feel very fortunate because I can have a normal life," the woman, who was 18 when she had the procedure in October of 2008, said in a video. "I know I'm one of the first."
MRKH syndrome impacts approximately one in 4,500 newborn girls, according to the National Institutes of Health.
"It is important to let other girls that have the same problem know that ... there is a treatment and you can have a normal life," the patient said.
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Source : http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/woman-lab-grown-vagina-normal-life-article-1.1761999
