Psychological impact of neovagina creation and uterus transplantation in the patients affected from Mayer-Rokitanski-Kuster-Hauser syndrome: A narrative review

Abstract

Mayer-Rokitanski-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome consists of a congenital aplasia of the uterus and the upper part of the vagina. It is the most frequent congenital cause of absolute uterine factor infertility, determining psychological disorders due to infertility and reduced quality of sexual activity. Being the necessity of baseline and prolonged assessments, clinicians need evaluation parameters for the monitoring of patients to plan a suitable management strategy and for efficient support before and after interventions, such as neovagina and uterus transplantation. Research of the literature was performed in PubMed and SCOPUS by searching for the terms "Mayer-Rokitanski-Kuster-Hauser" AND "psychological disorders"; from the 60 articles obtained, only 35 articles regarding neovagina creation and uterus transplantation were considered for the present manuscript. Based on the literature, management of MRKH syndrome by neovagina creation, either surgically or not, can restore a satisfactory sexual life and to reduce stress, signs of mental disorder and depression and improve sexual activity and quality of life. A psychological assessment of candidates to UT and of their partners is necessary. Recipients had low levels of anxiety compared to the normal population at baseline but a transiently lowered physical quality of life 1 year after surgery; elevated anxiety scores are associated with childlessness in the long-term evaluation. Further research is necessary to develop suitable evaluation protocols and adequate supportive services, to improve the outcomes of patients who undergo neovagina creation and uterus transplantation.

Keywords: Mayer–Rokitanski–Kuster–Hauser syndrome; Neovagina; Psychological disorders; Uterus transplantation; Vaginal agenesis.