Morphological and ultrastructural evaluation of cultured frozen–thawed human fetal ovarian tissue

Objective To investigate a defined culture condition for the culture of frozen-thawed human ovarian tissue. Design Prospective laboratory study. Setting Reproductive biology laboratories in university hospitals. Patient(s) Fetal ovarian tissue from elective termination of pregnancy. Intervention(s) Culture of frozen–thawed fetal ovarian tissue for up to 63 days. Main Outcome Measure(s) Morphology, morphometry, and survival of follicles in relation to culture times. Result(s) The proportion of primordial, early primary, and primary follicles in frozen–thawed (day 0) ovarian tissue was 77.5%, 21.7%, and 0.8%, respectively. Pronounced degeneration was found in all cell types, and ≤36% of the follicles had signs of atresia at days 7–14, but this figure improved with culture time to Conclusion(s) The present culture condition leads to good survival and progressive follicular growth and differentiation that is comparable to the physiological pattern of early folliculogenesis.