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Pastimes : THE SLIGHTLY MODERATED BOXING RING -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jlallen who wrote (1694)	3/7/2002 11:45:51 AM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 21057

It did, although the renovation that is going on is needed, things are stately but a little run down in the area. Brooklyn Heights has become "hot", like the East Village or Tribeca. A lot of affluent people are moving in........

To: jlallen who wrote (1694)	3/7/2002 1:36:21 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Respond to of 21057

Where else but Saudi Arabia? Saudi Surgeons Perform First Uterus Transplant By DENISE GRADY octors in Saudi Arabia are reporting that they performed the world's first uterus transplant, from a 46-year-old woman to a 26-year-old who had a hysterectomy because of a hemorrhage after childbirth, but still hoped to have another baby. The transplanted uterus remained healthy for 99 days but then began to deteriorate, apparently because blood clots cut off its circulation. It had to be removed. American experts were divided on the report. Some said that even though the transplant failed, the fact that it lasted 99 days was encouraging and made it an important first step toward making childbirth possible for women who have had hysterectomies or uterine abnormalities. They said uterus transplants would be temporary, and would be removed once a baby was born so that the mother could stop taking drugs to prevent the rejection of the transplanted organ, which can have serious side effects. But other experts questioned the ethics of exposing a patient to the risks of a transplant for an organ that is not lifesaving. The operation, performed in April 2000, was described today in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics by Dr. Wafa Fageeh, Dr. Hassan Raffa, Dr. Hussain Jabbad and Dr. Anass Marzouki, of the King Fahd Hospital and research center in Jidda, Saudi Arabia. The authors said uterus transplants would be especially useful in Muslim societies, where religious authorities do not allow the use of surrogate mothers, women who volunteer to become pregnant with another woman's child. The researchers said Islamic law does not permit genetic coding — meaning eggs or embryos — to be transferred from one person to another, but it would permit a uterus transplant. Before operating on people, the team practiced on 16 baboons and 2 goats. They said the operation is technically difficult because the blood vessels that have to be sewn together are tiny, much smaller than those in other organ transplants. The 26-year-old recipient had undergone a hysterectomy six years earlier but still wanted another baby. The donor, 46, needed surgery for ovarian cysts and agreed to give her uterus to the younger woman. The recipient took anti-rejection drugs before and after the surgery, as well as hormones to help the uterus develop a normal lining. All went well until the 99th day, when she had pelvic discomfort, and tests showed that blood flow to the uterus had stopped. A hysterectomy was done. The doctors wrote that the problem may have occurred because the uterus was not anchored securely enough, leading to "probable tension, torsion, or kinking" of blood vessels. Dr. Fageeh said her team had not performed any more uterus transplants, "but we are planning to do so and there are many women who want that surgery." In an editorial accompanying the case report, Dr. Louis G. Keith of Northwestern University and Dr. Giuseppe Del Priore of New York University said that the case should not be considered a failure, and that reproductive organs are a "new frontier" in transplant surgery. For some people, they wrote, childbearing is "the greatest event of a lifetime," and a uterus transplant "would not be considered frivolous or unnecessary." Dr. Del Priore said he and his colleagues had been experimenting with uterus transplants in pigs and rats for almost two years. He said that although the transplants survived and functioned for several months in the pigs, producing normal menstrual cycles, the animals were unable to become pregnant, and the researchers do not know why. But he said the scientists were learning from their mistakes and would eventually develop a reliable technique for people. "I think it's going to be a reality sooner rather than later," Dr. Del Priore said. He predicted that thousands of women in the United States would be interested. Dr. John Fung, a surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh, questioned that view. He said: "I think it is not appropriate when there are alternatives. This is not a lifesaving organ. You'd be taking a lot of risks." Dr. Fung also said that the Saudi doctors should have done more research before trying the operation on a human being, and that it was far too early for clinical trials on people in the United States. "If you're concerned that the blood supply is compromised by just a kink, what is going to happen when the uterus expands during pregnancy?" he said. But Dr. Del Priore said that nearly every advance in assisted reproduction has been controversial. Twenty years ago, he noted, critics of in vitro fertilization made it "quite an ordeal" for doctors, scientists and patients. "We got through that," he said, "and we'll get through this." nytimes.com