Preserving your fertility: Egg vitrification at Superior A.R.T.
Reasons why egg vitrification might be used
There are many situations when it may be suitable to store eggs, these may include:
- when a single woman is at risk of losing her fertility as a result of chemotherapy or other cytotoxic therapy
- if ethical/religious considerations do not permit the storage of embryos.
- when a younger woman wants to preserve her fertility and store eggs while she is still young.
Why egg vitrification (snap freezing) is superior to traditional egg freezing (slow freezing)
The egg is the largest cell in the body and is contained mostly of water.The classic problem with freezing eggs has been that as the temperature drops below freezing point, ice crystals form inside the egg and cause damage to the genetic material. Vitrification is an ultra rapid cooling technique that allows the water inside and surrounding the egg to instantaneously super cool into a solid state with no ice crystal formation at all. Only 50-60% of eggs preserved by slow freezing survive the thawing process, compared with almost 100% of eggs which are vitrified. In addition, the pregnancy rate per thawed egg preserved by slow freezing remains poor, appearing to be much lower in comparison with vitrification.Studies have shown that vitrification results in higher post-warming survival, fertilisation, embryo developmen and pregnancy rates.
Egg vitrification with Superior A.R.T.
Egg vitrification is currently offered for use at Superior A.R.T. for patients with medical reasons (eg: prior to chemotherapy, Turners Syndrome) or in cases of emergency (eg: no sperm available on the day of egg pick up). Superior A.R.T. also offers egg vitrification for social reasons.
Starting treatment with Superior A.R.T.?
When you want to start treatment at Superior A.R.T. you can choose the pathway you prefer from the options below.
- Contact us directly to arrange an appointment with a Superior A.R.T. affiliated clinician.
- Be referred by your OB-GYN doctor to Superior A.R.T.
Please call to make an appointment with our nurse coordinator. It is a good idea to coordinate this meeting with your menstrual cycle.
Success rates using vitrified eggs
A recent clinical study (Cobo 2008*) of 57 volunteers (693 vitrified eggs) found the following:
- 96.1% vitrified eggs survived the warming procedure
- 73.1% of warmed eggs were fertilised
- 38.5% implantation rate per embryo
- 63.2% pregnancy rate per transfer
A recent review of obstetric and perinatal outcomes (Chian 2008**) in 200 infants conceived following egg vitrification cycles, found no increased incidents of anomalies when compared to infants conceived naturally or through IVF. These studies provide reassuring evidence that vitrification preserves the biological integrity of eggs, resulting in highsurvival and pregnancy rates.
In order to collect eggs for vitrification, patients will undergo a cycle of ovarian stimulation and a surgical egg pick-up procedure similar to a patient beginning IVF treatment.
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