Disorders of Sex Development

I was very honored with Bruce Carr's invitation to be the Guest Editor of the Seminars in Reproductive Medicine journal, dedicated to the disorders of sex development (DSD). DSD represents an important field in both clinical and research sceneries and a multidisciplinary expertise team is essential to adequately treat these patients.

The European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology/Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society Consensus Conference on Intersex Disorders held in Chicago, United States, in 2005, identified a lack of follow-up data on DSD patients as well as on the characterization of the molecular basis of the defects that cause DSD. Both conditions motivated me to organize this issue of “Seminars in Reproductive Medicine” focusing on the normal and abnormal sex development going from the patients to the genes.

This issue presents a series of articles written by true experts in each chosen area. These experts cover several hot topics reflecting their personal experiences. The first chapter comprises guidance for the management of children with ambiguous genitalia written for young endocrinologists, written by experienced senior endocrinologists with a combined experience of more than 300 years in the DSD treatment that took place in different countries and cultures from four continents.

The other chapters were co-written by different authors who brought in more basic or more clinical skills, or even different experiences on the same issue, such as 21-hydroylase deficiency, giving a wider vision on each topic.

The issue ends with an updated report on the psychological aspects and long-term outcome in patients with DSD, a fundamental statement for sex assignment and parents counseling.

I thank all the authors for their outstanding contributions. My special thanks to Melvin Grumbach for his helpful input and to Jean D. Wilson for his brilliant editorial work in Chapter 1.

I hope this issue offers a special contribution for the work-up of the patient with DSD resulting in better long-term outcome for our patients in the near future.