Pregnancy after Transplantation of Cryopreserved Ovarian Tissue in a Patient with Ovarian Failure after Chemotherapy

Abstract

Premenopausal women who undergo high-dose chemotherapy have a very high risk of ovarian failure.¹ Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue with subsequent autotransplantation has effectively preserved fertility in an animal model,² but its efficacy in humans has been uncertain. Eggs that were aspirated from cryopreserved ovarian tissue transplanted in heterotopic sites did not result in a pregnancy.³ A live birth was reported after transplantation of cryopreserved ovarian tissue in a woman who had undergone treatment for Hodgkin's disease; however, since the woman had ovulated before transplantation, it is uncertain whether the egg came from the native ovary or the transplanted ovary.⁴ A recent report described a live birth after transplantation of fresh ovarian tissue from a fertile woman to her sterile monozygotic twin, but this approach does not involve preservation of fertility and hence is not applicable to women facing sterilizing chemotherapy.⁵