Turner’s syndrome and fertility: current status and possible putative prospects

Authors: R. Abir; B. Fisch; R. Nahum; R. Orvieto; S. Nitke

Source: Human Reproduction Update, Volume 7, Number 6, December 2001 , pp. 603-610(8)

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $44.11 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

Women with Turner’s syndrome should be carefully followed throughout life. Growth hormone therapy should be started at age 2–5 years. Hormone replacement therapy for the development of normal female sexual characteristics should be started at age 12–15 years and continued for the long term to prevent coronary artery disease and osteoporosis. Most women with Turner’s syndrome have ovarian dysgenesis; therefore, they are usually infertile, and in very rare cases have spontaneous menses followed by early menopause. Only 2% of the women have natural pregnancies, with high rates of miscarriages, stillbirths and malformed babies. Their pregnancy rate in oocyte donation programmes is 24–47%, but even these pregnancies have a high rate of miscarriage, probably due to uterine factors. A possible future prospect is cryopreservation of ovarian tissue containing immature follicles before the onset of early menopause, but methods of replantation and in-vitro maturation still need to be developed. Should these autologous oocytes indeed be used in the future, affected women would need to undergo genetic counselling before conception, followed by prenatal assessment.

Keywords: cryopreservation of ovarian tissue; hormone replacement therapy; natural pregnancies; oocyte donation; Turner’s syndrome

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus, Petah Tikva, Israel

Publication date: 2001-12-01

More about this publication?

Human Reproduction Update, first published in 1995, aims to provide invited, comprehensive, authoritative, up-to-date critical and balanced reviews covering all areas of human reproduction including reproductive physiology and pathology, endocrinology, andrology, gonad function, gametogenesis, fertilization, embryo development, implantation, pregnancy, genetics, genetic diagnosis, oncology, infectious disease, surgery, contraception, infertility treatment, psychology and counselling, ethics and social issues. These papers are peer-reviewed to the highest editorial and scientific standards. Human Reproduction Update is published on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE).

Turner’s syndrome and fertility: current status and possible putative prospects

Buy & download fulltext article:

Tools

Key

Text size:

Useful pages