Most successful uterine transplant in US: Recipient shows promising recovery

The first successful uterus transplant from a living donor was performed by surgeons at Baylor University. After three previous unsuccessful attempts, the procedure seems to be the most successful by far and could achieve full functionality.

One woman in Texas received a uterine transplant three weeks ago and seems to be on track to become the first successful uterus transplant recipient. On Wednesday, a statement from Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas announced that the patient had passed the three-week benchmark and looks to be recovering successfully.

"We are cautiously optimistic that she could ultimately become the first uterine transplant recipient in the US to make it to the milestone of uterine functionality," the statement said.

The first successful uterus transplant from a living donor was performed in Sweden in 2012 by doctors from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. So far, nine women have received transplants in Sweden and produced five live births since then, according to CNN. Some of the surgeons from the Swedish team assisted with the procedures at Baylor.

The first attempt at the procedure in the US took place in Ohio last February. Unlike the current transplant, the uterus was provided by a deceased donation. However, a yeast infection compromised the transplant and it had to be removed.

Cleveland Clinic, home to the first attempt in the US, had hoped to perform the operation on 10 women to present the procedure as a way to treat uterine factor infertility, a term used to describe women born with uteruses, had their uteruses removed or have one that does not function. However, the failure of the first test put the trial’s future on hold.

Baylor also had several failures. The current patient is the fourth one to undergo the procedure with the Uterine Transplant Clinical Trial. The first three’s transplants seemed successful initially but, “we determined after several tests the transplanted organs were not receiving viable blood flow and the uteri were removed.”

However, the latest transplant has seen no signs of infection or rejections.