Transculturation, psychosis and koro symptoms.

Koro is a clinical syndrome characterized by the conviction of penile retraction and fear of inevitable death upon its disappearance into the abdomen. The syndrome is generally considered culture bound, yet an increasing number of sporadic cases were attributed to psychiatric, systemic or neurologic pathology. In the following article, sporadic koro cases associated with paranoid psychosis or schizophrenia have been assembled, indicating that immigration is an important factor in the pathogenesis of the clinical phenomenon. The interplay between psychosis, transculturation and cultural influence affecting koro development is discussed.