title: Childbirth after organ transplantation in Hungary.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The first successfully delivered newborn after organ transplantation was reported in 1963; since then, >14,000 women have delivered after transplantation. Patients with an end-stage organ disease develop fertility disturbances. One year after a successful solid organ transplantation with stable graft function, fertile women can give birth to a child from a medical point of view. Pregnant transplant patients do experience a high risk of graft function worsening, a rejection episode, and opportunistic infections. Furthermore, the medical therapy may influence teratogenicity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between 1974 and September 1, 2010, 5 Hungarian centers performed 6802 solid organ transplantation and lungs were grafted in Vienna, Austria. The organ distribution was: 5971 kidney, 454 liver, 187 heart, 90 combined pancreas-kidney, 5 combined islet-kidney, and 95 lung transplantation. There were no pregnancies among heart, lung, and pancreas recipients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In all, 3.9% of the renal and 14.3% of the fertile liver transplanted women gave birth to children. To wit, 23 kidney recipients delivered 27 healthy children (17 boys and 10 girls). In 4 cases, 2 children were born, twice as twins. Among liver recipients, 8 women delivered 8 healthy babies. There was no hepatitis C or B virus-positive patient among the mothers. There was no graft insufficiency, rejection or birth defect. Transplanted mothers often display toxemia or preeclampsia during pregnancy requiring cesarean section. The relatively higher ratio of liver recipients was perhaps due to the rarer occurrence of extrahepatic organ damage, like diabetic nephropathy or cardiomyopathy, and the reversible nature of hepatorenal or hepatopulmonary syndrome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Delivery of a child by a transplanted mother carries an high risk, requiring interdisciplinary cooperation. The quality of life of solid organ recipients can be significantly raised by childbirth under appropriate circumstances.
authors.affiliation: Department of Transplantation and Surgery, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gerlei
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wettstein
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rigó
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Asztalos
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Langer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D016377:Organ Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D036801:Parturition; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000209:etiology; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents