Related Experiment Videos
Return of fertility after autologous stem cell transplantation
Avner Hershlag1, Michael W Schuster
1Division of Reproductive Endocrinology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, North Shore University Hospital-New York University School of Medicine, 300 Community Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030, USA. ahershlag@nshs.edu
Objective:
To study cases where bone marrow transplantation (BMT) or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT)-induced menopause was entirely reversed.
Design:
Retrospective analysis.
Setting:
An inpatient BMT unit and an ambulatory fertility center in a university hospital.
Patient(S):
Two patients with Hodgkin's disease and two with advanced breast carcinoma requiring stem cell transplantation.
Intervention(S):
Estrogen treatment, monitoring of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and estradiol (E(2)) levels, and, ultimately, monitoring of pregnancy.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Pregnancy.
Result(S):
All four patients established pregnancies, but two of them elected to terminate due to the use of tamoxifen early in pregnancy.
Conclusion(S):
Menopausal changes resulting from BMT may spontaneously reverse, with reestablishment of normal hormonal function and viable pregnancies.