Body Image and Transsexualism

BACKGROUND: To achieve a detailed view of the body image of transsexual patients, an assessment of perception, attitudes and experiences about one's own body is necessary. To date, research on the body image of transsexual patients has mostly covered body dissatisfaction with respect to body perception. SAMPLING AND METHODS: We investigated 23 preoperative (16 male-to-female and 7 female-to-male transsexual patients) and 22 postoperative (14 male-to-female and 8 female-to-male) transsexual patients using a validated psychological measure for body image variables. RESULTS: We found that preoperative transsexual patients were insecure and felt unattractive because of concerns about their body image. However, postoperative transsexual patients scored high on attractiveness and self-confidence. Furthermore, postoperative transsexual patients showed low scores for insecurity and concerns about their body. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate an improvement of body image concerns for transsexual patients following standards of care for gender identity disorder. Follow-up studies are recommended to confirm the assumed positive outcome of standards of care on body image. (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

Influence of operator experience on performance of ultrasound-guided percutaneous liver biopsy.

The purpose was to evaluate the influence of radiologist's experience on the diagnostic yield and complications of a percutaneous liver biopsy (PLB) method. Six hundred patients underwent an ultrasound-guided PLB by an inexperienced operator in 25.2% of cases (experience of less than 15 percutaneous liver biopsies performed alone--group I) or by an experienced operator (experience of more than 150 percutaneous liver biopsies--group II). The two groups were well-matched with respect to sex, age, percentage with viral hepatitis without histological cirrhosis, number of needle passes, history of liver biopsy and pain before the biopsy. A histological diagnosis was available in 97.3% of cases without any significant difference between the two groups ( P=0.25). However, group II samples were significantly longer and contained more portal tracts ( P=0.01). Pain was mild immediately and 6 h after the biopsy, without significant difference between both groups. Eight vasovagal reactions (five in group II) and one arteriobiliary fistula (in group II) occurred. With the method of PLB used for this study, operator's experience did not influence either the final histological diagnosis or the degree of pain suffered