Woman born without vagina gets one made from tilapia fish skin
By Janet Tappin Coelho
May 31, 2018 | 5:27pm
Modal Trigger
Odorico Moraes coordinated the tilapia fish skin project.Jarbas Oliveira/FocusOn News
MORE ON:
VAGINAS
More women than ever want plastic surgery on their labia
Seven things you really should know about your vagina
I got a condom stuck inside me
Cops find stolen Rolex watch inside woman's panties
A Brazilian woman, born without a vagina, has become the first in the world to undergo pioneering reconstructive surgery that successfully created a new vaginal canal using the skin of tilapia fish.
Researchers at the Federal University of Ceara (UFC) in northeast Brazil, led by gynecologist Dr. Leonardo Bezerra, revealed the unprecedented procedure, called a neovaginoplasty, was performed on Jucilene Marinho, 23, in April 2017.
The unorthodox treatment is faster, cheaper and less aggressive than the conventional method used for sufferers of Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH), a rare congenital disorder that affects approximately one in 5,000 newborn girls and results in the absence of some or all of the female reproductive organs.
The revolutionary treatment involves opening a space between the vagina and anus and inserting a tubular mold lined with the skin of the freshwater fish.
Once in contact with the patient’s body, tilapia skin acts like stem cells and is absorbed and transformed into cellular tissue forming the walls of the canal, similar to that of an actual vagina.
Before being used, the fish skin undergoes a special cleaning and sterilization process in the lab followed by irradiation to kill viruses.
The process removes all the scales and fish smell and results in a light-colored gel dressing that can be stored for up to two years in refrigerated sterile packaging.
An ecstatic Marinho spoke for the first time to FocusOn News about how the ground-breaking surgery has changed her life and made her feel like “a proper woman” who now enjoys a healthy sex life.
Modal Trigger
Surgeons prepare the tilapia skin for the operation.UFC/FocusOn News
Research shows that tilapia skin, normally thrown away as a waste product, contains large amounts of moisture and is rich in collagen type 1, a protein that promotes healing. It is disease resistant and as strong and resilient as human skin.
Since 2015, scientists at the UFC Research and Development of Medicines Nucleus coordinated by Professor Odorico Moraes, have been trialing a radical procedure that uses the moisture-filled skin of the freshwater fish to heal more than 200 victims with severe burns — with notable success. The normal regime is painful and involves regular changes of gauze bandages along with painkillers and ointments.
“There was a eureka moment when we thought, if this membrane can be used for burns, why can’t it be used for the vagina,” said Bezerra who began investigating the procedure in January 2016.
“To make the ‘new vagina’ we insert a vagina-shaped acrylic mold, lined with the skin of tilapia, into the space created between the bladder and the rectum. The device remains there for 10 days to prevent the walls from closing,” the doctor explained.
“During this period the skin of the tilapia is absorbed, and the cells and growth factors released by the membrane transforms, like stem cells, into the patient’s tissue cells.
“Finally, the patient’s body completely incorporates the tilapia skin becoming biocompatible with it. The fish skin stimulates cellular growth and the formation of blood vessels and creates a new canal equal to that of an actual vagina,” he continued.
After the operation, patients have been able to get up and walk after an average of 12 days of recovery with the mold being replaced with silicone or a sponge for comfort. Under the established procedure, convalescents spend weeks in bed without moving and have to learn to walk again.
Marinho suffered minor internal bleeding and was discharged after three weeks in the hospital and admits the moment she left she went out to celebrate.
“My family and friends, who have always been there for me, took me out to ‘toast’ my new vagina,” she said laughing.
“And it felt so good to have something the majority of women take for granted,” she added with a deep sigh of relief.
Doctors are now working towards offering the new treatment in multiple medical centers throughout Brazil and in different locations across the world once clinical studies have been completed and strict protocols established.
By Janet Tappin Coelho
May 31, 2018 | 5:27pm
Modal Trigger
Odorico Moraes coordinated the tilapia fish skin project.Jarbas Oliveira/FocusOn News
MORE ON:
VAGINAS
More women than ever want plastic surgery on their labia
Seven things you really should know about your vagina
I got a condom stuck inside me
Cops find stolen Rolex watch inside woman's panties
A Brazilian woman, born without a vagina, has become the first in the world to undergo pioneering reconstructive surgery that successfully created a new vaginal canal using the skin of tilapia fish.
Researchers at the Federal University of Ceara (UFC) in northeast Brazil, led by gynecologist Dr. Leonardo Bezerra, revealed the unprecedented procedure, called a neovaginoplasty, was performed on Jucilene Marinho, 23, in April 2017.
The unorthodox treatment is faster, cheaper and less aggressive than the conventional method used for sufferers of Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH), a rare congenital disorder that affects approximately one in 5,000 newborn girls and results in the absence of some or all of the female reproductive organs.
The revolutionary treatment involves opening a space between the vagina and anus and inserting a tubular mold lined with the skin of the freshwater fish.
Once in contact with the patient’s body, tilapia skin acts like stem cells and is absorbed and transformed into cellular tissue forming the walls of the canal, similar to that of an actual vagina.
Before being used, the fish skin undergoes a special cleaning and sterilization process in the lab followed by irradiation to kill viruses.
The process removes all the scales and fish smell and results in a light-colored gel dressing that can be stored for up to two years in refrigerated sterile packaging.
An ecstatic Marinho spoke for the first time to FocusOn News about how the ground-breaking surgery has changed her life and made her feel like “a proper woman” who now enjoys a healthy sex life.
Modal Trigger
Surgeons prepare the tilapia skin for the operation.UFC/FocusOn News
Research shows that tilapia skin, normally thrown away as a waste product, contains large amounts of moisture and is rich in collagen type 1, a protein that promotes healing. It is disease resistant and as strong and resilient as human skin.
Since 2015, scientists at the UFC Research and Development of Medicines Nucleus coordinated by Professor Odorico Moraes, have been trialing a radical procedure that uses the moisture-filled skin of the freshwater fish to heal more than 200 victims with severe burns — with notable success. The normal regime is painful and involves regular changes of gauze bandages along with painkillers and ointments.
“There was a eureka moment when we thought, if this membrane can be used for burns, why can’t it be used for the vagina,” said Bezerra who began investigating the procedure in January 2016.
“To make the ‘new vagina’ we insert a vagina-shaped acrylic mold, lined with the skin of tilapia, into the space created between the bladder and the rectum. The device remains there for 10 days to prevent the walls from closing,” the doctor explained.
“During this period the skin of the tilapia is absorbed, and the cells and growth factors released by the membrane transforms, like stem cells, into the patient’s tissue cells.
“Finally, the patient’s body completely incorporates the tilapia skin becoming biocompatible with it. The fish skin stimulates cellular growth and the formation of blood vessels and creates a new canal equal to that of an actual vagina,” he continued.
After the operation, patients have been able to get up and walk after an average of 12 days of recovery with the mold being replaced with silicone or a sponge for comfort. Under the established procedure, convalescents spend weeks in bed without moving and have to learn to walk again.
Marinho suffered minor internal bleeding and was discharged after three weeks in the hospital and admits the moment she left she went out to celebrate.
“My family and friends, who have always been there for me, took me out to ‘toast’ my new vagina,” she said laughing.
“And it felt so good to have something the majority of women take for granted,” she added with a deep sigh of relief.
Doctors are now working towards offering the new treatment in multiple medical centers throughout Brazil and in different locations across the world once clinical studies have been completed and strict protocols established.
