Purpose To review 15 years of activities in ovarian tissue cryobanking from medical database files, including patient indications, histological evaluation and clinical characteristics. Methods Retrospective longitudinal analysis of data from an ovarian tissue bank in an academic hospital. Five hundred and eighty-two patients had their ovarian tissue cryobanked between April 1997 and January 2012. Analysis of cryobanking database: precryopreservation patient characteristics, indications and safety issues, laboratory files and postcryopreservation clinical data. Results Of the 582 patients who had their ovarian tissue cryopreserved, 106 patients donated for research purposes and 476 patients for fertility preservation and long-term cryopreservation. Clinical data analysis of the 476 patients revealed a mean age at the time of cryopreservation of 23± 8.5 years (range: 9 months -39 years), with 96.2 % of subjects aged ≤35 years (n=458). Among 391 cases of malignant disease, hematological malignancies (39.9 %, n=156) and breast cancer (21.7 %, n=85) were the two main indications.At histology, malignant cells were found in ovarian tissue from leukemia patients (n = 3) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients (n=2). Eleven patients underwent autotransplantation, resulting in 5 live births and 1 ongoing pregnancy. Conclusion This is the largest and most comprehensive study to describe and analyze indications and clinical patient characteristics before and after ovarian tissue cryopreservation. The procedure is safe, easy and promising. The database concept is a useful tool in patient selection for autotransplantation.

Grafting and/or gonadotrophin stimulation appear to affect the follicular expression of KL, which may alter oocyte quality. AMH expression in growing follicles after ovarian tissue transplantation may be one of the factors contributing to the preservation of resting follicles in 28-week-old grafts.

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