In this episode, Dr. Elliot Richards, a true physician-scientist and Director of Research in the Department of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the Cleveland Clinic, shares about his experience and studies regarding uterine transplant.

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Reflect on how this Podcast applies to your day-to-day and earn free AMA PRA Category 1 CMEs: https://earnc.me/jcX2MH

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SHOW NOTES

Dr. Richards describes uterine transplant in the modern era as truly “patient-driven” and due to “patient-demand.” He begins the episode by detailing the history of uterine transplant, which was initially attempted in the 1930s, even before the first successful renal transplant 20 years later. More recently, successful uterine transplants were first conducted in Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Turkey, and now in a few United States institutions (e.g. Cleveland Clinic, University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Pennsylvania, and Baylor).

He then addresses arguments or concerns against uterine transplant. Ultimately, Dr. Richards encourages listeners to identify infertility as a disease and one that warrants treatment, prompting the use of uterine transplant.

The physicians then discuss the process of uterine transplant. In current trials, the majority of patients are people with a diagnosis of mullein agenesis. Dr. Richards highlights that this population does not reflect the actual population that suffers from absolute uterine factor infertility (AUFI) and that he hopes that access to the procedure will expand for a more diverse patient population. He then describes the types of uterine donors (e.g., directed donor, non-director donor, deceased donor model, etc.) that are utilized by different institutions; the surgical process of the transplant itself; immunosuppression and pregnancy; as well as fertilization via IVF.

The episode ends with Dr. Richards discussing success rates by citing his prior studies, which includes a 74% 1-year graft survival and 83% live birth rate among those with a viable graft at 1 year. Specifically within the Cleveland Clinic study population, one patient delivered the first second baby last September. Future directions regarding uterine transplant include better understanding the costs of the procedure, shortage of available donors, identifying the true demand, leveraging minimally invasive surgical techniques, and fallopian tube preservation.

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RESOURCES

“The Danish Girl” 2015 film directed by Tim Hooper

“Uterus Transplant Animation Recipient” by Cleveland Clinic - ​​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13DwQ0HbuXc

“Cleveland Clinic Delivers Second Baby from Uterus Transplant” by Cleveland Clinic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJuedpL14AQ

Lefkowitz A, Edwards M, Balayla J. The Montreal Criteria for the Ethical Feasibility of Uterine Transplantation. Transpl Int. 2012 Apr;25(4):439-47.

Johannesson L, Richards E, Reddy V, Walter J, Olthoff K, Quintini C, Tzakis A, Latif N, Porrett P, O'Neill K, Testa G. The First 5 Years of Uterus Transplant in the US: A Report From the United States Uterus Transplant Consortium. JAMA Surg. 2022 Sep 1;157(9):790-797.