Surgeons at Ohio's Cleveland Clinic performed the first uterus transplant in the United States Wednesday. The 26-year-old patient was given the uterus by a deceased organ donor. She was reported to be in stable condition Thursday, according to a press release.
The clinical trial for this study was announced in November and approved by Cleveland Clinic's Institutional Review Board, which is comprised of a diverse team of gynecologists, researchers and transplant surgeons. Doctors are screening for 10 candidates with uterine factor infertility to perform the transplant on.
Uterine factor fertility is an irreversible condition affecting 3 to 5 percent of women across the globe. It can be described as a condition where a woman is unable to carry a pregnancy because she does not have a uterus or she has one that is no longer functioning.
"Women who are coping with UFI have few existing options," said Tomes Falcone, chairman of the Department of Obsestrics-Gynecology at Cleveland Clinic, according to CNN News.
The transplant is just one of the many steps taken within this process. The patients also are required to have their eggs harvested, fertilized and frozen, so that they can be implanted in the uterus approximately 12 months after surgery.
The patients are also required to be constantly monitored by doctors, as well as ordered to take an anti-rejection drug so her body does not try to forfeit the pregnancy. If the pregnancy is successful, the baby will then be delivered by a cesarean section. After the patient gives birth, she is then instructed to have a hysterectomy to remove the transplanted uterus.
The research team continues to screen considerable candidates for the surgery.
