CLINICAL RESEARCH. Sex researchers and consultants at Sahlgrenska Academy and Sahlgrenska University Hospital describe the outcome of the clinical study of uterine transplants in Läkartidningen. Five children were born, and all five are doing well.
In the clinical study, which began in 2013, nine women received transplanted uteri from living donors. Two of the transplanted uteri were surgically removed during the first few months – in one case because of thrombosis in the uterine arteries and in another because of intrauterine infection with abscess formation. The other seven women got spontaneous menstrual bleeding within a few months, as a sign of normal uterine function. The clinical study has so far led to the birth of five healthy children. One of the women in the study were pregnant but miscarried in week 15. Only one woman has not become pregnant. In the report the researchers speculate that the high success rate may be due to the uterus transplanted have had good preconditions to achieve pregnancy and the uteri previously provided entirely normal pregnancies.
The research team initiated a translational research project on uterus transplantation in 1999. The studies were first conducted on mice, where the group in 2003 for the first time demonstrated that a pregnancy can proceed normally in a transplanted uterus. The research team then systematically and gradually continued with experiments on rats, pigs, sheep and baboon.
During 2016 an additional two studies in uterus transplantation will begin. In one of the studies, the research team wants to reduce the long operation time by performing most of the surgery when the uterus is harvested using robot-assisted laparoscopy. Another study will investigate the possible use of the womb from a deceased donor. The group has also started a long-term research project to create an artificial uterus, using the recipient’s own stem cells. These studies are already underway in rats and sheep.
The report is written by Hans Bokström, Pernilla Dahm-Kähler, Henrik Hagberg, Lars Nilsson, Michael Olausson, and Mats Brännström.
In the same issue Läkartidningen also publishes a comment on the report, written by Niels Lynöe, Professor, Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, LIME, at Karolinska Institute. He believes that the uterine transplant is an interesting scientific progress, but that the treatment requires careful ethical analysis.
