Brazilian baby born through the womb from a deceased donor

The woman gave birth to a child through the womb from a deceased donor.

The birth of a girl weighing 2700 g was a milestone in the treatment of infertility after the experts began to doubt the possibility of using organomercury donors after 10 failed attempts.

Blagodarnostjami a living donor already had 11 children (first child appeared in 2013), but this option is available only if the recipient is a close friend or family member willing to donate a uterus.

The complexity of ispolzovaniya a deceased donor is to maintain the viability of the organ after the donor’s death. A team of doctors conducted the surgery a 32-year-old Brazilian, was transplanted womb after she spent 8 hours without oxygen. The success of the operation could mean that soon women with infertility of the uterus, which previously could only adopt children or to resort to surrogateescape will be able to have children of their own.

Dr. Danny Eisenberg from the hospital das Clnicas (University of são Paulo), who led the study, said the results, published in the Lancet, are a proof of concept that will change the lives of many women.

The first successful transplantation of the uterus from living donors have become a real discovery, allowing you to give birth to many infertile women who have access to your donors and to health facilities. However, the need for live donor was always the main restriction, as to find a woman willing to donate her uterus, is extremely difficult. People willing and pledged to donate their organs after death, much more that facilitates the search of the donor and increases the likelihood of surgery.

The ability to use organs from deceased donors, reduce costs and eliminate the risks of transplantation in real time, especially in countries with already developed systems of organ donation.

The first uterus transplant in the UK should occur in early 2019, but independent experts are encouraged by the fact that currently there is evidence of the success of the transplant both living and deceased donor transplants.

Infertility affects 15% of couples of reproductive age, and each 500-th woman has infertility of the uterus, which may be associated with birth defects, injuries or diseases such as infection or cancer.

The girl, referred to in this article, was born with the syndrome Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (a condition in which part of the reproductive system such as uterus, not developing, although women have functioning ovaries and is a normal puberty). The operation was carried out in September 2016 after the donor died of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 45 years. The operation, during which it was necessary to associate a donor uterus with blood vessels, muscles and ancestral channel of the recipient, lasted 10 and a half hours.

After transplantation, the woman began regular monthly, and seven months later, the lining of the uterus was thick enough to transplant a fertilized egg that had been frozen after IVF before surgery.

The pregnancy was normal, although she had to take antibiotics needed to treat a kidney infection, which developed due to taking drugs that suppress the immune system to not reject the transplant.

The baby was born after 35 weeks and three days by caesarean section, after which the uterus was removed to save the mother from having to take immunosuppressive drugs. On the day of publication of the results of the study she was 7 months and 20 days. It is healthy, weighed 7.2 kg and was still breastfed.

Because the procedure is considered experimental, and requires further development to fully evaluate its level of success and potential use, at the moment, impossible. However, scientists not involved in the study, said that the Brazilian team was able to double the time, preserve the viability of the uterus and transplanting the embryos before, which undoubtedly was a breakthrough.

Andrew Shennan, Professor of obstetrics at king’s College London, said:

Transplantation of the uterus and subsequent pregnancy, including from living donors, have been carried out earlier, but this is the first case of successful pregnancy with an organ from a deceased donor. Successful pregnancy without any compromises, despite the fact that the uterus was without oxygen for eight hours before transplantation, is a unique case.

Dr Srdjan SASO from Imperial College London adds:

The only pregnancy after a uterus transplant from a deceased donor occurred in 2011 in Turkey. This attempt failed and resulted in a miscarriage that has created doubt about whether it is possible to use the organs of a deceased donor.