Uterus Transplant Feasible, Linked to High Rate of Live Birth

MONDAY, Aug. 19, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Uterus transplant is feasible and is associated with high rates of live birth after successful graft survival, according to a study published online Aug. 15 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Giuliano Testa, M.D., from Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, and colleagues examined whether uterus transplant is feasible and results in births of healthy infants in a case series of 20 participants with uterine-factor infertility and at least one functioning ovary. The uterus transplant (18 from living donors and two from deceased donors) was surgically placed in an orthotopic position with vascular anastomoses to the external iliac vessels; immunosuppression was given to recipients until removal of the uterus after one or two live births or graft failure.

The researchers found that 14 of the 20 participants had a successful uterus allograft; all 14 gave birth to at least one live-born infant. Of the 20 recipients, 11 had at least one complication. In 50 percent of the successful pregnancies, maternal and/or obstetric complications occurred, with the most common being gestational hypertension, cervical insufficiency, and preterm labor (14, 14, and 14 percent, respectively). No congenital malformations occurred in the 16 live-born infants. Grade 3 complications occurred in four of 18 living donors.

"During the study period, the technical success of graft survival improved with time and experience," the authors write. "All 14 participants with successful uterus transplant had a subsequent live birth."

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