The efficacy and safety of human oocyte vitrification.

Vitrification is now a widely applied and highly successful approach for cryopreservation in reproductive biology. Rapidly increasing data prove that it is also a highly efficient technique for low-temperature storage of human oocytes. The latest approaches with appropriately selected cryoprotectants, tools and techniques, and properly adjusted parameters allow close to 100% morphological survival rates, and in vitro embryo development, as well pregnancy and implantation rates, comparable with those achieved with fresh oocytes. With standardization of the technique and elimination of biosafety problems by preserving all the positive features, vitrification may become a common part of the everyday routine in a human embryo laboratory, and it may offer a solution for various medical and social situations as well as for simple logistic problems commonly occurring in assisted reproduction. Thieme Medical Publishers.