Another ground-breaking event happened in the field of medicine — the uterus transplant. The procedure brought so much hope to a lot of women but like any other surgeries and despite the advanced technology, it still has its own pros and cons.
Out of the four women who had undergone the surgery at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, three were unsuccessful. Following the conduct of post-op test, it was found that the other three uterus were not receiving normal blood flow, hence, their immediate removal, Time exclusively learned.
Currently, the last woman standing still has the transplanted uterus. So far, the patient is not showing any signs of organ rejection.
If the operation is successful and there are no signs of infection or whatsoever, experts estimated that in three-month's time, women can resume their normal activities. Within six to 12 months, women can try an in vitro fertilization (IVF).
It was reported in 2014 that the woman from Sweden, who underwent the uterus transplant, successfully got pregnant and gave birth. The success of this event prompted the doctors in the United States to perform the same in the country.
In Cleveland Clinic, which hosted the first uterus transplant in the United States, one patient underwent the 10-hour surgery but the uterus had to be removed due to complications. The doctors discovered that she harboured a yeast infection, which ultimately destroyed the organ, NPR reported.
To minimize the aforementioned risk, the clinic will reportedly give medications to all women undertaking the said procedure. Meanwhile, to prevent their bodies from rejecting the transplanted uterus, women will have to take drugs thereby risking not just only her life but as well as her future child.
Risks are inevitable, thus, the recommendation of the doctors that the transplanted uterus will only remain in the woman's body for a period of time. Following an attempt to conceive a baby once or twice, the organ will be then removed so she can stop taking the potent and sometimes toxic anti-rejection drugs.
The recent transplants were performed using an organ from a living donor. These women were found having a Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome or born without a uterus.
The doctors who performed the surgery are motivated despite the small failure. Amid the controversies surrounding this breakthrough, they believe that their hearts are in place.
