Abstract
Uterus transplantation is today the only available treatment for absolute uterine factor infertility which is caused by either congenital/surgical uterine absence or that a present uterus is non-functioning. Structured animal-based research, from rodents to nonhuman primates, was the scientific basis for a successful introduction of uterus transplantation as a clinical procedure. The patient groups for uterus transplantation, the preclinical research and data from the published human cases will be covered herein. During recent years the concept of bioengineering of organs and tissues has emerged. Creation of a bioengineered uterus is in the initial research state, with experiments performed in rodents. The research that has been performed to create a bioengineered uterus will be summarized. In conclusion, uterus transplantation is now a clinical experimental procedure for treatment of uterine factor infertility. In parallel to the establishment of this combined assisted reproduction technique and transplantation procedure as a routine clinical procedure, we predict that uterus bioengineering will develop further towards introduction within the human setting, but that this process will take several years.
Highlights
Absolute uterine factor infertility (AUFI) has for many years been regarded as untreatable
The patients that are in need for a uterus are those that have the absolute uterine factor infertility (AUFI) condition
The extensive animal-research that preceded a structured and scientific introduction of human UTx, with an initial prospective observational study, was most likely important for that several births have been reported from the nine women that entered the trial
Summary
Absolute uterine factor infertility (AUFI) has for many years been regarded as untreatable. Our research group initiated animal-based UTx-research in 1999 and has by a step-by-step approach subjected most aspects of an UTx procedure to experiments in rodents, domestic species and non-human primates [5] prior to our clinical trial, with the worlds first live birth after UTx demonstrated in 2014 [6]. We are in the initial phase of this research project and predict that this will, in line with the UTx project, take at least a decade from the laboratory to the clinical setting. In this article the potential patient groups for UTx are described. The initial 11 human UTx attempts, that have been scientifically published, and the outcomes of these are described in detail in this review. These attempts were performed during the period between 2000 and 2013. Noteworthy is that the same number of new attempts have taken place and been reported in the media during the last 12 months and that the early surgical success, with
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
