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Slow Freezing of Oocytes

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Practical Manual of In Vitro Fertilization

Abstract

Assisted reproduction technology (ART) is becoming an increasingly important strategy to preserve female fertility. Until a decade ago, in an ART context, the only option available to preserve fertility for a woman at risk of loss of ovarian function was embryo cryopreservation. The storage of embryos is a sound, well established, and safe procedure, but it entails major downsides. More recently, new avenues have been opened to preserve female fertility through ART. Ovarian tissue cryopreservation and orthotopic re-implantation have shown the potential to restore ovarian function for a period of time and offer a chance for natural conception. However, so far, only very few full-term pregnancies have been achieved. Therefore, the efficacy of this approach remains to be established. Oocyte cryopreservation is powerfully emerging as an efficient ART procedure able to preserve female fertility without the implications which afflict embryo cryopreservation. Historically, control rate slow cooling has been the technological standard of human embryo cryopreservation. This has marked the early history of oocyte cryopreservation. Consistent advances of control rate slow-cooling protocols have given oocyte cryopreservation the dignity of a routine procedure in many human IVF laboratories. Progress in the last few years has been also driven by the development of the vitrification approach.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biogenesi, Reproductive Medicine Centre, Istituti Clinici Zucchi, Via Zucchi 24, Monza, 20052, Italy

    Giovanni Coticchio BSc, MSc, MMedSc, PhD

  2. IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, H S. Raffaele, Universita Vita-Salute, Milan, Italy

    Lucia De Santis BSc, MSc

Authors
  1. Giovanni Coticchio BSc, MSc, MMedSc, PhD
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  2. Lucia De Santis BSc, MSc
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giovanni Coticchio BSc, MSc, MMedSc, PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Scientific and Laboratory Director, Reproductive Biology Associates, Atlanta, 30342, Georgia, USA

    Zsolt Peter Nagy

  2. , Sr. Embryologist, Montreal Reproductive Centre, Montreal, H4A 3J3, Québec, Canada

    Alex C. Varghese

  3. Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Urology, Cleveland Clinic, Euclid Avenue 9500, Cleveland, 44195, Ohio, USA

    Ashok Agarwal

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Coticchio, G., De Santis, L. (2012). Slow Freezing of Oocytes. In: Nagy, Z., Varghese, A., Agarwal, A. (eds) Practical Manual of In Vitro Fertilization. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1780-5_55

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1780-5_55

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1779-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1780-5

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