Author/Authors :
Shehata, Mohamed University of Cologne, Germany , Mohamed, Ali University of Cologne, Germany
Abstract :
Children and young adults, who suffer from cancer, receive gonadotoxic therapy,
which destroys their fertile abilities after survival. Ovarian cryopreservation and
transplantation provide the promising solution to this problem, where the ovary can
be removed before the gonadotoxic therapy and reimplanted after patient's survival,
where the ovary is to be cryopreserved during the period of the therapy. However,
cryopreservation of the whole ovary is still facing great obstacles, namely the
ischemic reperfusion injury and the defective cryopreservation related to the
defective ability to universally deliver the cryopreservation/warming solutions
through the ovarian vascular bed. Meanwhile, the currently applied technique of
ovarian tissue cryopreservation provides limited follicular recovery because many
follicles are lost until the establishment of revascularization post-transplantation. To
solve the problems, an innovative system has been developed to insure immediate
and universal delivery of the cryopreservation/warming solutions to the graft, in
addition to keeping the graft under continuous perfusion before and after
cryopreservation, minimizing any chance for microthrombi formation or ischemiareperfusion.
This innovative system can be applied in the following surgical and
clinical interventions: 1) Allogeneic ovarian transplantation; 2) Preservation of
fertility after systemic chemotherapy or bone marrow transplantation in young
females, where the ovaries could be removed before the therapy and exposed to the
adequate cryopreservation provided by the system till re-implantation after the
patient's survival; 3) The system is also suitable for the corresponding applications
on the testicles.
Keywords :
Ovary , Cryopreservation , Fertility preservation , Organ perfusion
