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Updated: Jun 6, 2026
Fertility Preservation in Patients with Severe Ovarian Dysfunction
Published on: March 25, 2021
Ex-vivo oocyte retrieval for fertility preservation
Human M Fatemi1, Dimitra Kyrou, Majedah Al-Azemi
1Department of Reproductive Medicine, Academic Hospital at Dutch-speaking Brussels Free University, Brussels, Belgium. hmousavi@uzbrussel.be
Objective:
To report a novel fertility preservation strategy in a woman with recurrent serous borderline ovarian tumor in the conserved ovary involving ex-vivo retrieval of in vivo matured oocytes and subsequent embryo cryopreservation.
Design:
Case report.
Setting:
Tertiary infertility care unit.
Patient(S):
A 27-year-old woman presented for follow-up visit with a history of borderline serous adenocarcinoma treated conservatively with left oophorectomy and fertility-sparing laparoscopic staging. Ultrasound scan revealed a recurrent disease in the right ovary.
Intervention(S):
Ex-vivo retrieval of mature oocytes after ovarian stimulation.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Fertility preservation.
Result(S):
The patient underwent ovarian stimulation followed by a laparotomy and oophorectomy on the day of oocyte retrieval. A puncture of the follicles was performed in the operating theatre with a maximum ischemia time of 14 minutes. Eleven mature oocytes were aspirating, resulting in seven zygotes for cryopreservation.
Conclusion(S):
Mature oocytes can be successfully retrieved ex-vivo from the oophorectomy specimen after a controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) protocol. This method provides a possible strategy for fertility preservation in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer without the risk of cancer cells spillage associated with the standard transvaginal oocyte retrieval.
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