Uterus transplantation: transition from experimental to clinical procedure

Uterus transplantation is a novel treatment to treat uterine factor infertility. This type of infertility is due to absence of an anatomical or functional uterus. This review covers important research findings in the field, and this research formed the base for introduction of uterus transplantation as an experimental clinical procedure. The basic animal-research investigated central facets such as surgery, immunosuppression, ischemia-reperfusion injury, rejection, and fertility. The first clinical uterus transplantation trial was started in 2013 and this was a live donor trial. The first live birth was reported in 2014 and this has been followed by a number of births from the initial trial in Sweden and in several other parts of the world. The uterus transplantations procedures and the live births that have been scientifically reported will be discussed in this review. Lastly, some aspects for an efficient transition from an experimental phase into a clinical phase of uterus transplantation will be discussed.