[Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue].
Ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTCP) is a new procedure of medically assisted procreation, still at the experimental stage, whose primary aim is to store female gametes as sperm cryopreservation permits to do for male gametes. Ovarian tissue is removed very simply by laparoscopy. It survives well to freezing if the medium contains a cryoprotective agent and the rate of freezing is slow. In contrast, thawing must be rapid. There are three processes for the utilization of ovarian tissue after thawing. In vitro maturation and xenografting remain impossible for technical and ethical reasons. Autologous transplantation (orthotopic or heterotopic) of the tissue is therefore the only foreseeable method over the short term. Indications for OTCP must remain rare as long as no pregnancy has been obtained in human. At the present time, only female patients who would inevitably suffer the loss of their fertility should be able to take advantage of OTCP. Basically, this would mean women subjected to castrating anticancer therapy. It would seem reasonable to set the age limit at 35-years for carrying out OTCP. Lastly, female patients should be clearly informed that the method is still at the research stage, and in France samples must be taken in accordance with the laws governing clinical research.
Aubard
Y
Y
Service de gynécologie-obstétrique, CHU Dupuytren, 2, avenue Martin-Luther-King, 87042 Limoges, France. yves.aubard@unilim.fr
Poirot
C
C
Piver
P
P
D000328:Adult; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D015925:Cryopreservation; D005260:Female; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D007700:Kinetics; D006080:Ovarian Follicle / Q000502:physiology; D010053:Ovary / Q000637:transplantation; D011247:Pregnancy; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents