As you will certainly know, non-vascularized rectus fascia (NVRF) transplantation was first described in 2009 (Gondolesi et al. Transplantation 2009;87:1884–8) as a novel technique to close the abdominal wall after solid organ transplantation. By using this technique, extensive abdominal wall repair was avoided and the technique is gaining interest worldwide. Later the vascularized fascia transplant was introduced as alternative (VRF).

So far, experience with (N)VRF transplantation is scarcely reported. At our transplant center in Leuven, Belgium, we performed our first case of NVRF transplant in September 2020. Dr. Nele Van De Winkel is an abdominal surgeon at our center who is specialized in abdominal wall surgery. Based on her specialty she developed a specific interest regarding (N)VRF and is currently working on a PhD thesis on this topic. She recently completed a systematic literature review, published in Transplantation Reviews (2021 Jun 4;35(4):100634). This review revealed that data on long-term outcome following NVRF regarding the strength and functionality of the abdominal wall is scarce.

Therefore we took the initiative for a multi-center survey on this topic to collect and analyze the world-wide practice and long-term outcome after (non-)vascularized fascia transplantation.

For this survey we have developed an excel sheet (1 excel file) and survey manual (PDF). We would be very grateful if you or one of your team members could have a look into this questionnaire and return your response directly to Nele (nele.vandewinkel@uzleuven.be) (1 sheet for each individual case).

It would be worth considering to publish in the near future the results of this multicenter survey if we can collect a sufficient number of cases performed worldwide. Participating centers would of course be granted a co-authorship.

Many thanks for your help and support. Please do not hesitate to contact us directly in case you have any further questions on this email.

Best regards,
Laurens Ceulemans (transplant surgeon)
Nele Van De Winkel (abdominal surgeon and PhD student)

On behalf of the Leuven LIFT team