Elsevier

Fertility and Sterility

Volume 92, Issue 2, August 2009, Pages 458-463
Fertility and Sterility

Fertility preservation
At what age can human oocytes be obtained?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2008.07.013Get rights and content
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Objective

To determine whether oocyte retrieval and in vitro maturation (IVM) is effective in girls undergoing fertility preservation before cancer treatment.

Design

Cohort study.

Setting

Tertiary university medical center.

Patient(s)

Patients ≤20 years old before gonadotoxic chemotherapy undergoing ovarian cortex cryopreservation.

Intervention(s)

Before ovarian cortex cryopreservation, oocytes in all observed follicles were aspirated, matured in vitro, and cryopreserved.

Main Outcome Measure(s)

Maturation of oocytes.

Result(s)

One hundred seventy-nine oocytes were detected in 17/19 patients (89%) aged 5–20 years. We found 7, 8, and 17 oocytes in patients 5, 8, and 10 years old, respectively. The median number of oocytes per patient was 9 (0–37). Maturation rate was 45/133 oocytes (34%). In total, 81 oocytes were cryopreserved. We cryopreserved 4 of 12 detected, 4 of 9 detected, 1 of 8 detected, and 4 of 9 detected IVM oocytes for patients aged 5–10, 11–14, 15–17, and 18–20 years old, respectively.

Conclusion(s)

Patients undergoing ovarian cryopreservation could benefit from supplementary oocyte aspiration from the cortex. Surprisingly, oocytes were detected even in young premenarcheal girls. The number of oocytes detected, matured, and cryopreserved was not age dependent. Retrieved oocytes can be matured in vitro and cryopreserved. Because no pregnancy has yet resulted from this procedure it should be considered to be experimental. We describe the youngest patients to undergo ovum collection, IVM, and oocyte cryopreservation.

Key Words

Fertility
premature ovarian failure
pediatric hemato-oncology
cryopreservation
ovary
chemotherapy
in vitro maturation
laparoscopy

Cited by (0)

A.R. has nothing to disclose. S.R.-V. has nothing to disclose. E.A. has nothing to disclose. A.P.-K. has nothing to disclose. A.S. has nothing to disclose. A.B. has nothing to disclose. M.W. has nothing to disclose. M.S. has nothing to disclose. H.A. has nothing to disclose. N.L. has nothing to disclose.

Supported by The Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 1236/06).

Presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) annual meeting, Lyon, France, 2007.