title: Two successful pregnancies obtained following oocyte vitrification and embryo re-vitrification.
abstract: Recent clinical reports not only show that cryopreserved embryos can be successfully used for human fertility treatment, but also that cryopreserved oocytes may be used successfully as an adjunct to human assisted reproductive technologies. Vitrification is known to establish a glass-like solid state during the cooling process. The high concentration of cryoprotectants and an extremely rapid rate of cooling are responsible for the formation of the solid state, and also prevent formation of intracellular ice crystals. Hence, in theory, vitrification should minimize cryo-injuries, and therefore has great promise for oocyte and embryo cryopreservation. This article describes two pregnancies from vitrified-warmed blastocysts obtained after intracytoplasmic sperm injection fertilization of vitrified-warmed oocytes. Vitrification was employed to cryopreserve the oocytes and the subsequent blastocysts. The results present the intriguing implication that vitrification may serve as an efficient method for clinical oocyte cryopreservation and embryo re-cryopreservation.
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Biology Associates, 1150 Lake Hearn Drive, Suite 600, Atlanta, GA 30342, USA.
authors.forename: Ching-Chien
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Daniel B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.forename: Diana Patricia
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Bernal
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Hilton I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Kort
authors.forename: Zsolt Peter
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Nagy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001755:Blastocyst; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009865:Oocytes; D011247:Pregnancy; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic