Frozen ovary tissue put back into infertile woman

March 28th, 2011 - 4:04 pm ICT by IANS  

London, March 28 (IANS) A woman, who become infertile after chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, has had frozen ovary tissue inserted back into her by a robot in a pioneering operation, raising hopes for infertile women.

Emma Leach, 39, went through the menopause after undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. She had pieces of her ovaries frozen five years ago following her diagnosis and they have now been put back into her body.

Leach, from London, went under the knife in the US, the Daily Mail reports.

Kutluk Oktay, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology and fertility pioneer at the New York Medical College, agreed to carry out the operation.

Her ovary was cut open by the robot and the tissue which had been removed and frozen before her chemotherapy treatment was stitched inside.

More pieces of tissue which were too small to stitch in were then injected into the other ovary by the pioneering equipment. She was discharged within hours of the procedure.

Oktay, who performed the procedure for the first time, said: “The robotic arms mimics the movement of the hand but there is much more precision.

“There is no hand tremor - this allows the surgeon to do fine suturing at microscopic levels without having to put patients through invasive surgery,” added Oktay.

The robot, named Da Vinci, has previously been used for carrying out heart operations and treating cancer.

The news will give new hope to thousands of women around the world who are left infertile after going through chemotherapy.

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