ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To report a birth of a healthy girl after long-term oocyte cryopreservation by slow cooling in sodium depleted medium. DESIGN: Clinical application. SETTING: University Affiliated, Private IVF center. PATIENT: A 38-year-old woman received embryos from IVF by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) with her own oocytes that were cryopreserved by slow freezing in a low-sodium medium 14 years and 6 months before, when she was 24 years old. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Survival, fertilization, cleavage, clinical pregnancy and delivery. RESULT(S): From six metaphase-II oocytes thawed, two survived, one was fertilized after ICSI and a cleaving embryo was transferred on day 3. A single term pregnancy was achieved, ending with the delivery of a healthy girl. CONCLUSION(S): Cryopreservation after slow freezing in a sodium depleted medium maintained the developmental competence of oocytes after long-term storage and resulted in a successful live birth. As far as is known, this case represents, up to date, the longest storage period of cryopreserved human oocytes resulting in a live birth.
