/ / / Cleveland Clinic Performs First-Ever Uterus Transplant In the U.S.

Cleveland Clinic Performs First-Ever Uterus Transplant In the U.S.

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Cleveland Clinic Performs First-Ever Uterus Transplant In the U.S.

Surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic successfully performed the first ever uterus transplant in the United States this week.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, doctors from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden completed the world’s first mother-to-daughter uterus transplant in 2012.

On Thursday, a 26-year-old woman who received a new womb in a nine-hour operation was reported in stable condition. The transplanted uterus reportedly came from a deceased organ donor.

In November, the Cleveland Clinic announced that it would conduct a research study, which would include 10 uterus transplants on women with uterine factor infertility.

According to CNN, UFI is an irreversible condition that affects 3-5 percent of women worldwide. Women with the condition are unable to become pregnant because they are either born without a uterus, have lost their uterus, or have a non-functioning uterus.

Tommaso Falcone, chairman of the Department of Obstetrics-Gynecology at Cleveland Clinic said success with this type of operation could give hope to thousands of women longing to have a child of their own.

“Women who are coping with UFI have few existing options. Although adoption and surrogacy provide opportunities for parenthood, both pose logistical challenges and may not be acceptable due to personal, cultural or legal reasons.”

While the transplant seems to have gone well, there are still many steps yet left before the woman is able to carry a child.

Before the transplant, the woman’s eggs are harvested, fertilized and frozen for implantation in the new uterus at a later date.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, it will take over 12 months of healing before an implantation can be considered.

Once it is determined that the uterus has healed sufficiently, the frozen embryos are thawed and implanted, one at a time, into the patient until she becomes pregnant.

If the pregnancy takes, the women will take anti-rejection drugs and be monitored by a high-risk obstetrics team throughout pregnancy and delivery.

The woman will be monitored with monthly cervical biopsies to check for organ rejection and once the baby is full-term, it will be delivered by cesarean section.

Once the woman delivers one to two babies, the woman will have a hysterectomy to remove the transplanted uterus. It is only then that the woman will stop taking anti-rejection drugs.

The team of doctors at the Cleveland Clinic have reason to be hopeful. In the years since the Swedish doctors first performed a uterus transplant, five of the women have gotten pregnant, resulting in four live births.

Andreas Tzakis, the lead investigator in the Cleveland study, said the hospital is excited about having the same type of success in the United States.

“The exciting work from the investigators in Sweden demonstrated that uterine transplantation can result in the successful delivery of healthy infants.”

According to The New York Times, the Swedish babies were born premature, but healthy.

The procedure is still considered experimental in the U.S., which is why the ethics panel at the Cleveland Clinic granted surgeons permission to perform only 10 uterus transplants.

If those surgeries go well, the clinic may decide to do them on a regular basis.

According to The Verge, doctors at the clinic are still recruiting candidates for uterus transplants.

[Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty Images]

Cleveland Clinic Performs First-Ever Uterus Transplant In the U.S. is an article from: The Inquisitr News

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