The evaluation of the fast freezing method as an option for fertility maintenance, after long-term human ovarian tissue cryopreservation. Samples were obtained from premenopausal women, who have had children, who were undergoing gynecologic surgery. The samples were cryopreserved for six years. Subsequently, were thawed and examined for the presence of oocytes and were immunohistochemically eva...

To find some prognostic factors for the outcome of frozen-thawed cycles, we have retrospectively analysed all frozen pre-embryos that were thawed during 1993 and 1994 at two in-vitro fertilization (IVF) units in Sweden. Supernumerary pre-embryos were frozen from 551 oocyte retrievals and these resulted in 660 frozen-thawed cycles which lead to 623 thawed embryo transfers. The outcome of these t...

The current review summarizes progress in the field of in vitro and in vivo production of South American Camelid embryos. Both methods require ovarian superstimulation (with FSH and eCG) to obtain multiple ovulations (in vivo embryo production) or to induce follicle growth for oocyte collection (in vitro embryo production). Moreover, superstimulation entails prior administration of hormones tha...

Recent advances in feline and canine reproductive studies demonstrate how methodically piecing this information together is beginning to reap rewards for wildlife conservation programs. Non-invasive endocrinology can be used to monitor female reproductive function, time con-specific introductions or AI, and diagnose pregnancy. Sperm morphology characteristics and cell membrane function may be g...

Our study focused on a retrospective analysis from 2004-2011 of patients considering elective oocyte cryopreservation (OC). We investigated the psychological and social aspects related to women who electively cryopreserve oocytes. Over seven years, consulted patients (n = 315) considering non-medical OC were interviewed by the staff therapists. Social, demographic, motivational impetus, psychol...

OBJECTIVE To characterize the early experience of a clinical program designed to provide strategies for fertility preservation to female cancer patients about to undergo chemotherapy or radiation therapy. DESIGN Retrospective chart review; case-control study. SETTING Academic medical center. PATIENT(S) Sixty-five female cancer patients and 57 age-matched infertility patients. INTERVENTI...

The success rates for cryopreservation of immature oocytes from several species including human remain low, in contrast to major improvements with mature oocytes. In this study, a new approach has been developed using a short exposure ultra-rapid freezing protocol, examining the effect of temperature and egg yolk (two factors which may be expected to influence membrane flexibility) on the cryos...

BACKGROUND Recently described slow-cooling cryopreservation protocols involving elevated sucrose concentration have improved survival frequencies of human oocytes, potentially overcoming a major hurdle that has limited the adoption of oocyte storage. Because implantation rates of embryos from frozen oocytes remain generally low, it is still debated whether, irrespective of survival rates, this ...

Conventional sperm freezing methods perform best when freezing sperm samples containing at least hundreds of spermatozoa. In this severe male factor infertility case series, we examined the reproductive outcomes in 12 intracytoplasmic sperm injection cases where spermatozoa used were frozen in Cell Sleepers. Cell Sleepers are novel devices in which individual spermatozoa can be frozen in microd...

BACKGROUND We studied the ultrastructural characteristics of human mature oocytes frozen/thawed (F/T) using different concentrations of sucrose. Fresh human mature oocytes were used as controls. METHODS The oocytes (n = 48) were fixed in 1.5% glutaraldehyde at sampling (n = 16) or after freeze/thawing performed using a slow cooling method with propane-1,2-diol 1.5 mol/l and sucrose at either ...