Reproductive biomedicine online
September 16, 2026 · via Europe PMC
Overnight hypothermic transportation of ovarian tissue prior to cryopreservation in a centralized cryobank of the FertiPROTEKT network.
Bender-Liebenthron J, Scheliga I, Baston-Buest DM, Hirchenhain J, Kruessel JS, Bielfeld AP.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
Overnight cold transport of ovarian tissue before cryopreservation appears feasible, with no significant outcome differences, although the study was too small to exclude meaningful differences.
What was studied
A retrospective analysis at a centralised cryobank in the FertiPROTEKT network comparing ovarian tissue cryopreserved within 2 hours of retrieval with tissue transported overnight at 4-8 degrees C (up to 24 hours) in a histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate medium, using clinical outcomes after 60 transplantations in 51 women.
Key findings
- Per patient, endocrine activity restoration was 94.1% versus 93.8% (transported versus immediate)
- Per patient, clinical pregnancy rate was 42.9% versus 25.0% (OR 2.22, 95% CI 0.53-11.35) and live birth rate 40.0% versus 25.0% (OR 1.97, 95% CI 0.47-10.14)
- Per transplantation, clinical pregnancy was 52.4% versus 27.8% and live birth 40.5% versus 27.8%; none of the differences was significant, including in sensitivity analyses
Clinical relevance
Centralised cryobanking with standardised overnight transport could widen access to ovarian tissue cryopreservation for fertility preservation where on-site facilities are unavailable.
Who should care
Limitations
Retrospective and small, with very wide confidence intervals; the authors state the study is underpowered to exclude clinically meaningful differences, and the numerical trends should not be read as benefit.
Overnight transport seems workable in routine practice, but larger studies are needed to confirm equivalence.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Research question
Does overnight hypothermic transportation (ONT) of ovarian tissue prior to cryopreservation enable feasible implementation in routine practice without negatively impacting clinical outcomes, thus providing location-independent access to ovarian tissue cryopreservation?
Design
Retrospective analysis at a university fertility centre/centralized cryobank (UniKiD/UniCareD) in collaboration with surgical centres of the FertiPROTEKT network. Ovarian tissue was either processed and cryopreserved immediately (≤2 h) after retrieval or transported overnight (4-8°C, ≤24 h) in histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate medium prior to cryopreservation, termed the 'ONT (-)' and 'ONT (+)' groups, respectively. Clinical outcomes following 60 transplantations in 51 women were compared according to transport modality, including sensitivity analyses adjusting for potential confounders.
Results
The clinical pregnancy and live birth rates (CPR and LBR, respectively) showed numerical trends favouring the ONT (+) group, whereas the endocrine activity restoration (EAR) rate was comparable between the groups; none of these differences reached significance. The per-patient results [ONT (+) group versus ONT (-) group] were as follows: EAR rate was 94.1% versus 93.8% (OR 1.07, 95% CI 0.02-22.0); CPR was 42.9% versus 25.0% (OR 2.22, 95% CI 0.53-11.35); and LBR was 40.0% versus 25.0% (OR 1.97, 95% CI 0.47-10.14). Per-transplantation results [ONT (+) group versus ONT (-) group] were as follows: EAR rate was 90.2% versus 94.4% (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.01-6.12); CPR was 52.4% versus 27.8% (OR 2.81, 95% CI 0.77-11.95); and LBR was 40.5% versus 27.8% (OR 1.75, 95% CI 0.47-7.48). Sensitivity analyses did not identify significant associations.
Conclusions
ONT of ovarian tissue appears feasible in routine practice. No significant differences were detected between study cohorts, although the study is underpowered to exclude clinically meaningful differences. Standardized transport protocols may support centralized cryobanking within fertility preservation networks, expanding access where on-site cryopreservation of ovarian tissue is unavailable.
DOI
10.1016/j.rbmo.2026.105977
PMID
42874326
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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