Observation of the ovary development and its blood vessels in 185 fetuses at different ages.
OBJECTIVE
To collect evidences for selecting the donors and optimal approaches for ovary transplantation.


METHODS
Fetal ovaries were sliced for microscopic examination and the number of primary oocytes and primordial follicles therein was observed. The volume of the ovaries and the external diameter of their vessels were measured and the origin of the vessels also observed.


RESULTS
Primary oocytes and primordial follicles were observed in almost equal abundance in the ovaries of the fetuses 21 weeks or older of age. The diameter of the vessels supplying the ovaries were less than 2 mm, and in 40.54% of the cases, both of the ovary vessels originated from the renal artery, with 35.14% from the aorta; in the 24.32% cases left, the vessels supplying the right ovaries started from the aorta and the other from the renal artery.


CONCLUSIONS
The ovaries of the fetuses 21 weeks or older of age can be used as donors for transplantation, preferentially for implantation, but the vessels are too thin for uneventful anastomosis.
Yang
Ri-Pu
RP
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Guangzhou General Hospital of Guangzhou Command, Guangzhou 510010, China.
Zhang
Chen-Fang
CF
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010053:Ovary / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*