Female-to-male transsexual with 47,XXX karyotype.

BACKGROUND

There are few reports describing chromosomal abnormalities in transsexuals. In rare cases, transsexualism and sexual chromosomal multiplicity coexist. Six cases of male-to-female transsexuals with 47,XYY chromosomal pattern have been previously reported. We have not encountered any female transsexual cases with 47,XXX karyotype in the literature.

METHODS

A 21-year-old female patient came to our outpatient department with depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts. On psychiatric interview, she reported that she had feelings of discomfort with her gender identity and had desired to be male since her childhood. Then, we performed cytogenetic investigation using blood culture and G chromosome banding.

RESULTS

Histology and DNA histograms of the patient revealed a chromosomal pattern of 47,XXX.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that sexual chromosomal abnormalities in some transsexuals may cause a vulnerability to development of a gender identity disorder.