Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich syndrome--timely diagnosis is important to preserve fertility

Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich syndrome is an urogenital malformation with uterus didelphys and obstructed hemivagina with ipsilateral renal agenesis. Most of these patients present after the onset of menstruation. We describe two cases diagnosed too late to prevent the complications.

The first patient presented with acute abdomen one year after the onset of menstruation and had salpingectomy due to pyosalpinx. The blind hemivagina was not recognized and she had severe endometriosis. She underwent hysterectomy 8 years later. The second patient presented with foul smelling vaginal discharge when she was 21 years old. She had a simple vaginal septum resection.

In the presence of uterine cavities in a regularly menstruating girl with dysmenorrhea, the presence of both kidneys should be checked. When unilateral renal agenesis and uterus didelphys coexist the first thing that we should remember is to confirm or refute the presence of a blind vagina.