Post Covid, Gujarat govt invites Pune’s Galaxy hospital surgeons to perform uterine transplants
Post Covid pandemic and after a gap of two and half years, the Pune team of surgeons from Galaxy Care hospital flew to Gujarat over the weekend to carry out a record back to back uterine transplants in two women in their 20s. “Prior to the pandemic, nine uterine transplants – all in Maharashtra -were performed.
Now with the Gujarat government giving permission for uterine transplant, our team decided to carry out the procedure for the women on Sunday (Sept 25),” Dr Shailesh Puntambekar, medical director at Galaxy care hospital told The Indian Express. The next state to invite the team is West Bengal where the team is already planning their next surgery.
On Monday morning the entire 11 member team returned to Pune and according to Dr Puntambekar both uterine transplant procedures were completed in a span of nine hours. According to Dr Milind Telang, chief gynaecologist with Galaxy Care hospital, the two women who underwent uterine transplants are stable.
“The first patient was a 28 year old woman who had a small uterus and was infertile. Her mother was 49 and as per the transplant norms were evaluated. The second woman had an absent uterus and suffered from a condition called Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome and was married for three years. She was evaluated and her mother also agreed to donate her uterus. Both patients and their families were counselled,” Dr Telang said. The incidence of MRKH syndrome is one in 5000 girls that are born.
“In our Indian scenario it would approximate to nearly 1.25 lakh girls who are born with this condition,” Dr Telang said. Both cases were of absolute uterine factor infertility. The entire procedure was completed in less than 12 hours. “Starting at 9 am we finished both operations by 7.45 pm,” Dr Telang said. Both donor and recipients are stable with no blood transfusion.
Both women were earlier registered with the hospital in Pune for the transplant. Pune’s Galaxy Care hospital had conducted India’s first two successful uterine transplants in May 2017 with the third one in January 2018 being completed by the team in six hours.
The womb transplants were performed through laparoscopic surgery that made the surgeries painless and helped in faster recovery. After nine uterine transplants the Covid pandemic brought about a temporary stop to the procedures.
While the institute awaits a formal inspection and renewal of its license as a uterine transplant centre the Gujarat government in the meantime had invited Dr Puntambekar and his qualified team members to perform the transplant in Ahmedabad. The permission from the Gujarat government was like a bonus for the families of the transplant recipients as they could stay in their home state and undergo the procedure, Dr Puntambekar said.
The transplants were performed at the Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre at the Ahmedabad civil hospital campus.
The state authorization committee, transplantation of human organ act, government of Gujarat had granted registration of uterus transplant centre to the institute and in a letter issued recently had stated that during the first year the uterus transplantation has to be done by Dr Shailesh Puntambekar and his qualified team members.
Dr Vasanthi Ramesh, Director of National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) when contacted told The Indian Express that the registry is in the process of being updated. “Uterine transplantation is not a life saving procedure. However one can live without a uterus and hence it can be a life enhancing or life giving procedure,” Dr Ramesh said.
