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. 2013 Mar;30(3):305-14.
doi: 10.1007/s10815-013-9952-x. Epub 2013 Feb 16.

A review of 15 years of ovarian tissue bank activities

Marie-Madeleine Dolmans  1 , Pascale Jadoul, Sébastien Gilliaux, Christiani A Amorim, Valérie Luyckx, Jean Squifflet, Jacques Donnez, Anne Van Langendonckt
Affiliations

A review of 15 years of ovarian tissue bank activities

Marie-Madeleine Dolmans et al. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2013 Mar.

Abstract

Purpose: To review 15 years of activities in ovarian tissue cryobanking from medical database files, including patient indications, histological evaluation and clinical characteristics.

Methods: Retrospective longitudinal analysis of data from an ovarian tissue bank in an academic hospital. Five hundred and eighty-two patients had their ovarian tissue cryobanked between April 1997 and January 2012. Analysis of cryobanking database: precryopreservation patient characteristics, indications and safety issues, laboratory files and postcryopreservation clinical data.

Results: Of the 582 patients who had their ovarian tissue cryopreserved, 106 patients donated for research purposes and 476 patients for fertility preservation and long-term cryopreservation. Clinical data analysis of the 476 patients revealed a mean age at the time of cryopreservation of 23 ± 8.5 years (range: 9 months - 39 years), with 96.2 % of subjects aged ≤35 years (n = 458). Among 391 cases of malignant disease, hematological malignancies (39.9 %, n = 156) and breast cancer (21.7 %, n = 85) were the two main indications. At histology, malignant cells were found in ovarian tissue from leukemia patients (n = 3) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients (n = 2). Eleven patients underwent autotransplantation, resulting in 5 live births and 1 ongoing pregnancy.

Conclusion: This is the largest and most comprehensive study to describe and analyze indications and clinical patient characteristics before and after ovarian tissue cryopreservation. The procedure is safe, easy and promising. The database concept is a useful tool in patient selection for autotransplantation.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
a Ovarian tissue cryopreservation database design. b Example of pre-encoded items to be selected in the OTC database, here in the context of pathology
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Analysis of the preclinical file of the database. Percentage of patients undergoing OTC (n = 476) by age group (in years) – 52.5 % of patients were ≤ 24 years of age and 96.2 % ≤ 35 years
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Number of OTC procedures by year in our department
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Malignant diseases up to January 2012 in our department (n = 391). Hematological malignancies (40 %) and breast cancers (22 %) represent the two main indications for OTC
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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