Surgical treatment in congenital adrenal hyperplasia: Age at operation and other prognostic factors

The results of genital reconstructive operations in 84 females with ambiguous genitalia due to congenital adrenal hyperplasia are presented. Most patients required both clitorectomy and vaginal exteriorization. Urinary tract infections and postoperative vaginal stenosis were the complications encountered most frequently. Long-term results of the initial operation were satisfactory in approximately 80% of the patients; except for newborns, the likelihood of success at operation seems less related to the patient’s age at the initial procedure or the degree of genital deformity than to positive preoperative identification of the vagina.