At 14:46 on August 31, 2021, there was a loud cry of a baby in the operating room of the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, and everyone shouted excitedly:
China’s first “cryopreserved ovary baby” was born!
I was so excited to pick up this child that I could not help but burst into tears. I have been fighting for this day with the team for ten years.
From 2010, I learned and discovered the technology of “ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation” in Germany, and successfully planted it in the “soil” of China, where it took root and germinated and blossomed.
The birth of this child has achieved another zero breakthrough in the history of reproductive medicine in my country!
Not long ago, the child came to the hospital for a physical examination 45 days after giving birth. Her mother Xiaomei (pseudonym) came to the outpatient clinic to thank me and gave me a special gift.
She said:
“You are the most beautiful doctor who made Chinese history in the hearts of our patients!”
Hearing the patient’s comments, I feel that our hard work and hard work over the years are worth it.
In 2016, 29-year-old Xiaomei was unfortunately hit by bad luck and was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (pre-leukemia) after a fever.
The doctor told her that if she had a bone marrow transplant, the disease was very likely to be cured, but the chemotherapy would destroy her ovarian function and she would not be able to be a mother in the future.
When Xiaomei heard the diagnosis, she felt like the sky was falling. She was about to marry her boyfriend at the time.
She is gratified that her boyfriend took good care of her during her illness and donated blood to her many times.
The boyfriend’s family is also very kind, telling the boy:
“You two are so good when the girl is not sick, you can’t leave her when she is sick.
Care well and get married in the future. “
Boyfriend also comforted her at the bedside:
“When you are healed, our wedding will be beautiful, and if there are other girls, I will prepare them for you.
Even if you can’t have children, you can still adopt or be a DINK in the future. “
Xiaomei was particularly moved by the actions of her boyfriend’s family.
While waiting for a bone marrow transplant, Mei often couldn’t sleep at night.
The better her boyfriend’s family treats her, the more she feels guilty. Their family is a three-generation single handed down, and she feels that she can’t delay such a good family.
She thought she had to do something to preserve her fertility as much as possible.
Xiaomei went to the reproductive centers of several hospitals, hoping to freeze her eggs before chemotherapy.
But after two weeks of ovulation stimulation, there are still no mature eggs available, and the hope of egg retrieval and egg freezing has vanished.
After several setbacks, Xiaomei found out that the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital could freeze ovarian tissue. With the last ray of hope, she found me.
I still remember the scene at that time, Xiaomei was sitting in the consultation room, she told me about her condition with tears, and told me that she would soon be in the cabin for a bone marrow transplant, and I hoped to do it as soon as possible. Ovaries are frozen.
Indeed, once Xiaomei has a bone marrow transplant, her life will be saved, but her ovarian function will decline 100%, and the probability of pregnancy in the future is 0.
I am also a woman and understand Xiaomei’s mood very well.
Considering the urgency of time, we contacted the leaders of the hospital and immediately started the green channel for the patient, and frozen part of her ovaries before the bone marrow transplant.
Knowledge extension
The new technology under the leadership of Professor Ruan Xiangyan of Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital is called “ovarian tissue cryopreservation transplantation”.
It takes part of a patient’s ovaries and freezes them, which is equivalent to cryopreserving tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of egg reserves for the patient.
Cryopreserved ovarian tissue is then transplanted back into the body when the patient has recovered.
In this way, suffering fromFertility and ovarian function can be extended by 10, 20, or even 30 years! !
It protects both fertility and ovarian function, which is equivalent to giving the patient a second life.
Xiaomei is a lucky girl. The bone marrow transplant was a success. After two years of treatment, her blood disease was cured and her life was saved.
But what I was worried about also happened. Myeloablative chemotherapy before the bone marrow transplant killed all the egg cells left in her body, resulting in premature ovarian failure.
Without menstruation, she became irritable and irritable; before she was 30 years old, she already had severe age spots on her face.
According to our previous agreement, in 2018, Xiaomei returned to me for a re-examination. After evaluation, the ovaries left in her body were no longer functional.
Because the primary disease has been cured, she is planning to have a child after marriage. In September 2018, we performed cryopreserved ovarian tissue autotransplantation for her.
Excitingly, only 3 months after surgery, Xiaomei’s menstruation has resumed, marking her ovarian function has been resurrected and returned to normal!
Before Xiaomei, although our team had the experience of cryopreserving ovarian tissue and successful transplantation, there was no precedent for the conception and delivery of ovarian transplant patients.
I am not entirely sure whether Xiaomei can get pregnant or not.
On December 31, 2020, Xiaomei came to my clinic again with great news: She was naturally pregnant!
Recalling the scene at that time, when I heard the news, my small clinic was boiling!
Xiaomei said excitedly and humorously:
“The ovaries are still good!
Special thanks to Director Ruan’s team for giving me a new lease of life. I feel that it is not only the ovaries that have been moved back, but also a little sun, exuding the light of hope! “
Professor Ruan Xiangyan (right) and patient (left) take a group photo
Like Xiaomei, there are millions of new patients in my country every year who are at risk of premature ovarian failure due to radiotherapy and chemotherapy for cancer, blood diseases, etc.
In my gynecological endocrinology clinic, 20%~35% of patients with premature ovarian failure.
Until there is no new technology, how to keep young cancer patients both life and fertility has always been an international problem!
At that time, many hopeful families came to consult, only to leave in disappointment.
I once saw a 15-year-old girl who had not yet had her period, and her mother took her all the way to see a doctor.
The little girl had a bone marrow transplant due to aplastic anemia. Chemotherapy caused premature ovarian failure, no menstruation, and osteoporosis worse than that of a 60-year-old.
The mother and daughter cried in despair in the clinic when I told them there was no good cure for premature ovarian failure.
Seeing that such a young flower is about to wither before it blooms, my heart breaks.
At that time, the doctor had nothing but comfort.
In 2010, I was sent by the hospital to study in Germany.
By chance, I came into contact with the frontier of reproductive medicine – “Ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation technology“.
This technology gave birth to the world’s first healthy baby in 2004, but it is still blank in China.
At the time, my blood was boiling. Isn’t this the problem I dreamed of solving? !
After returning to China, I led the team through countless nights and weekends, writing tenders one after another, applying for one project after another, completing one research and preparation after another, hoping to conquer the this puzzle.
The goal is getting closer.
In 2012, we established China’s first ovarian tissue cryopreservation bank in Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital.
On September 9, 2016, our team completed the first cryopreserved ovarian tissue transplant in China.
At the moment of success, in front of the operating table, my team members and I hugged and cried.
In the past three years, our team has performed cryopreservation of ovarian tissue for nearly 400 patients, and cryopreserved ovarian transplantation for 10 patients, all of which have been successful, reaching the international leading level. !
Among the nearly 400 patients, the youngest Rong Rong was only 1 year and 3 months old. She needed pelvic radiotherapy due to malignant bladder cancer.
Before radiotherapy, we cryopreserved part of her ovaries, which guaranteed her normal puberty development, childbearing age and health after ovarian tissue transplantation in the future.
Knowledge extension
In the past, for unmarried women of childbearing age, the method to protect fertility was to freeze eggs, but even if ovulation induction is successful, the chance of fertilizing each egg is less than 5%, and the ovaries cannot be restored to normal. Function.
The cryopreservation of ovarian tissue is equivalent to cryopreserving tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of egg reserves. The picture below is a 2mm diameter ovarian cortex piece of a 5-year-old girl cryopreserved. , containing more than a thousand live follicles, each bright spot is a live follicle.
Now, Rongrong is 3.5 years old, her cancer treatment has ended, and her child is in very good condition, beautiful and smart.
The family is very grateful to us for giving Rong Rong the good hope of being a normal girl when she grows up!
Each such affirmation is a coronation for us.
In the new year, the ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation technology will be extended to the whole country to help more patients protect their ovarian function and regain the hope of fertility!
If you are fortunate enough to read this article, I urge you to forward it so that more people in need can understand this technology, which is the wish of Zhimei.
Who is suitable for ovarian tissue cryopreservation?
Ovarian tissue cryopreservation can be used as a treatment for fertility preservation for people of all ages (35 years old and below is the best), but there are also suitable groups, currently there are 4 categories People:
1. Cancer or blood disease patients requiring chemoradiotherapy
Chemotherapy and chemotherapy can cause ovarian function to decline 10-20 years earlier.
Up to 78.3% of young cancer patients (eg breast cancer, borderline ovarian tumor, cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma) have fertility needs.
If some ovarian tissue can be removed for cryopreservation before chemoradiotherapy, the hope of fertility can be preserved. It should be reminded that ovarian cancer or ovarian metastasis should be excluded in cancer patients, and those with high risk of metastasis should be used with caution.
2. Patients with benign disease requiring bone marrow transplantation
Because myeloablative chemotherapy before bone marrow transplantation can cause almost 100% ovarian function decline, ovarian tissue should be cryopreserved before bone marrow transplantation.
3. Patients with benign ovarian tumors or severe endometriosis
For example, severe endometriosis can damage a patient’s ovarian function.
The removal of part of the ovarian tissue for cryopreservation at the same time as surgical treatment of the disease has become a routine clinical practice in Italy and other European and American countries to protect female fertility.
4. Patients with family history of premature ovarian failure and patients with Turner syndrome.
*The content of this article is for the popularization of health knowledge and cannot be used as a specific diagnosis and treatment suggestion, nor can it replace the face-to-face consultation of a licensed physician, and is for reference only.
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