Anji Wall M.D.

Kitano, M., S. Keswani, L. Erdahl, B. Bankhead-Kendall, A. Wall, K. Bilimoria and E. Kim (2021). “How to Optimize Your Research During a Pandemic – A Summary of Discussions From the Association for Academic Surgery Town Hall and Lessons Learned From 2020.” J Surg Res Aug 11;268:244-252. [Epub ahead of print].

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The year 2020 was an unprecedented year for all of us, including for the academic surgery research community. Both stay-at-home and social distancing restrictions posed challenges to our personal and professional lives. The Association for Academic Surgery held its inaugural webinar-based panel discussion titled Association for Academic Surgery Town Hall with its topic on how to optimize research during a pandemic. This article summarizes the highlights from that discussion and lessons learned from the academic surgery research community in 2020.

Wall, A. E., G. Testa, D. Axelrod and L. Johannesson (2021). “Uterus transplantation-questions and answers about the procedure that is expanding the field of solid organ transplantation.” Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent) 34(5): 581-585.

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Uterus transplant is a new and rapidly evolving field of solid organ transplantation designed to help women with absolute uterine-factor infertility who desire to carry their own pregnancies. The advent of this procedure and human clinical trials of uterus transplantation have raised technical, clinical, and ethical questions. We address several questions about uterus transplantation based on available literature and the clinical experience at Baylor University Medical Center, which has the largest uterus transplant program in the United States.

Rosenzweig, M., Wall, A., Spak, C.W., Testa, G. and Johannesson, L. (2021). “Pregnancy after CMV infection following uterus transplantation: A case report from the Dallas Uterus Transplant Study.” Transpl Infect Dis May 26;e13653. [Epub ahead of print].

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Uterus transplantation is a repeatedly proven treatment for women with absolute uterine-factor infertility, which is the congenital or acquired absence of the uterus, who desire to carry, and ultimately deliver, a child. No stranger to the field of transplant or obstetrics is cytomegalovirus. Cytomegalovirus is both a frequent complication after transplant, presenting as an opportunistic infection, as well as a common congenital disease in the newborn child from pregnancy. To date, there have been no reported cases of pregnancy following uterus transplantation from cytomegalovirus-positive donors into cytomegalovirus-negative recipients. We present a case report describing our experience of a cytomegalovirus-negative recipient, transplanted with a uterus from a cytomegalovirus-positive living donor, and subsequently diagnosed with active cytomegalovirus infection despite prophylactic treatment. She was treated for infection prior to embryo transfer and carried a healthy child to term. This case suggests transplanting a cytomegalovirus-positive uterus into a negative donor is possible to do safely.

Wall, A. (2021). “The unlimited possibilities for qualitative research in liver transplantation.” Liver Transpl Feb 8. [Epub ahead of print].

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As the outcomes of liver transplantation (LT) continue to improve, liver transplant recipients (LTRs) are beginning to resemble other aging, chronic disease populations.(1) This improvement in outcomes requires a shift in the focus of post-LT care from that of short-term survival to long-term chronic disease management.(2).

Johannesson, L., Wall, A., Warren, A.M., Gregg, A.R. and Testa, G. (2021). “Decisions on second pregnancy after uterus transplantation and timing for removal of the uterus-DUETS (Dallas UtErus Transplant Study).” Bjog Mar 4. [Epub ahead of print].

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Since the first live birth to a woman after uterus transplantation (UTx) was reported in 2014,(1) the number of UTx procedures has increased and births have occurred in multiple centers worldwide.(2) Despite the growth of UTx, it is a novel procedure, with most cases having been done under experimental protocols, and there remains much debate about the ethics of UTx. Centers have allowed recipients one or two pregnancies, limiting recipient-graft time (RGT), the time from UTx to hysterectomy, to 5 years. Few UTx recipients have delivered more than one baby to date.