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- Amanda Artsen, MD
Amanda Artsen, MD
Assistant Professor; Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences
My research focuses on why some women develop complications when we use mesh to augment surgical correction of pelvic floor disorders. Mesh gives women a more durable and less invasive option for repair but can cause complications. Understanding this process is critical not just to preventing complications but also to developing options for women that will prevent them from needing retreatment and allow them to get back to living their lives.
Amanda Artsen, MD
Research in Brief
The goal of Dr. Artsen’s research is to improve current treatment paradigms of pelvic floor disorders by understanding the mechanisms behind vaginal mesh complications. Polypropylene mesh is frequently used to decrease failure rates of prolapse repairs and treat stress urinary incontinence but is associated with rates of pain and exposure into the vagina in up to 10% of cases. To date, little attention has been paid to the role of the host in the response to a urogynecologic mesh. Using mesh samples removed from women with complications, mouse models and innovative tissue-modeling systems, Dr. Artsen aims to test the role of dysregulated wound healing in mesh complications and to test the therapeutic utility of extracellular matrix-associated molecules in vaginal healing after mesh placement. Gaining an improved understanding of the host response to biomaterials used in reconstructive pelvic surgeries will open new potential therapeutic avenues and contribute to a future in which these complications are rare events.
Current Projects
Outcomes After Polypropylene Mesh Implantation: Impact of the Host (BIRCWH award)
Dysregulated wound healing: a plausible mechanism leading to mesh complications
Complications Reported to the Food and Drug Administration: A comparison of urogynecologic mesh products
Selected Publications
- Artsen AM, Liang R, Meyn L, Rytel M, Palcsey S, Ambramowitch S, Moalli PA. T regulatory cells and TGF-ß1: predictors of the host response in mesh complications. Acta Biomaterialia. In press.
- Sassani JC, Artsen AM, Moalli PA, Bradley MS. Temporal Trends of Urogynecologic Mesh Reports to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Obstet Gynecol. 2020 May; 135(5): 1084-1090.
- Artsen AM, Rytel M, Liang R, King GE, Meyn L, Moalli PA. Mesh induced fibrosis: the protective role of T regulatory cells. Acta Biomaterialia. 2019 Sep; 96:203-210.
- Knight KM, Artsen AM, Routzong MR, King GE, Palcsey SL, Abramowitch SD, Moalli PM. New Zealand White Rabbit: A Novel Model for Prolapse Mesh Implantation via a Lumbar-colpopexy. Int Urogynecol J. 2020 Jan; 31(1):91-99.
- Stewart AM, Cook,MS, Dyer KY, Alperin M. Structure-Function Relationship of Human External Anal Sphincter. Int Urogynecol J. 2018 May;29(5):673-678.
- Stewart AM, Cook, MS, Lawley DM, Slayden R. Leiber L, Alperin M. Architectural Assessment of Rhesus Macaque Pelvic Floor Muscles: Comparison For Use As A Human Model. Int Urogynecol J. 2017 Oct;28(10):1527-1535.
- Stewart AM, Macones GA, Odibo AO, Colvin R, Cahill AG. Changes in Fetal Heart Tracing Characteristics after Magnesium Exposure. Am J Perinatol. 31(10):869-74, 2014 Nov.
- Grant K, Stewart AM, Song J, Windus D. Factors affecting the availability and cost of foodstuffs in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Pac J. Med. Sci. 10(2): 16-27, 2012 Nov.
- Zhan Y, Abi Saab WF, Modi N, Stewart AM, Liu J, Chadee DN. Mixed lineage kinase 3 is required for matrix metalloproteinase expression and invasion in ovarian cancer cells. Exp Cell Res 318(14): 1641-8, 2012 Aug.
- Zhan Y, Modi N, Stewart AM, Hieronimus RI, Liu J, Gutmann DH, Chadee DN. Regulation of mixed lineage kinase 3 is required for Neurofibromatosis-2-mediated growth suppression in human cancer. Oncogene 17;30(7):781-9, 2011 Feb.