Stockholm, October 7 (RHC) A Swedish 36-year-old woman gave birth to a healthy baby after receiving an uterus transplant as two more women are expected to give birth by end of year after womb transplants, according to The Lancet science journal.
In 2013, this woman was diagnosed with congenital absence of the uterus (Rokitansky syndrome) underwent transplantation of the uterus in Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. The uterus was donated from a living, 61-year-old woman. Doctors had practiced in-vitro fertilization treatment of the recipient and her partner before transplantation, from which 11 embryos were cryopreserved, the journal said.
The recipient and the donor had essentially uneventful postoperative recoveries. The recipient's first menstruation occurred 43 days after transplantation and she continued to menstruate at regular intervals of between 26 and 36 days. One year after transplantation, the recipient underwent her first single embryo transfer, which resulted in pregnancy. She was then given triple immunosuppression (tacrolimus, azathioprine, and corticosteroids), which was continued throughout pregnancy. She had three episodes of mild rejection, one of which occurred during pregnancy. These episodes were all reversed by corticosteroid treatment. Fetal growth parameters and blood flows of the uterine arteries and umbilical cord were normal throughout pregnancy. The patient was admitted with pre-eclampsia at 31 full weeks and five days, and 16 hours later a caesarean section was done because of abnormal cardiotocography. A male baby with a normal birth weight for gestational age was born, explained The Lancet.
A Swedish charity, Jane and Dan Olsson Foundation for Science, funded the research.
The Lancet interpreted this success as the first live birth after uterus transplantation and added that this report is a proof-of-concept for uterus transplantation as a treatment for uterine factor infertility and the results show the feasibility of live uterus donation, even from a post-menopausal donor.
