Is it safe to continue with gamete cryopreservation during the pandemic? A literature review

Akash Agarwal; Rahul Kumar Sen; Sanketh Dhumal Satya; Ved Prakash

doi:10.25259/JRHM_53_2020

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2 (

Suppl_1

); 105-111

doi:

10.25259/JRHM_53_2020

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Is it safe to continue with gamete cryopreservation during the pandemic? A literature review

Akash Agarwal¹, Rahul Kumar Sen², Sanketh Dhumal Satya^3,, Ved Prakash⁴

1Scientific Director, Hegde Fertility, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.

2Consultant Embryologist, Neelkanth Fertility Hospital, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.

3Clinical Embryologist, KSHEMA-IVF, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Justice K. S. Hegde Charitable Hospital, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India.

4Lab Director, Southend Fertility and IVF, New Delhi, India.

*Corresponding author: Sanketh Dhumal Satya, Clinical Embryologist, KSHEMA-IVF, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Justice K. S. Hegde Charitable Hospital, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India. sankethdhumal@nitte.edu.in

Received: 2020-12-04, Accepted: 2021-02-01, Published: 2021-02-22

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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.

How to cite this article: Agarwal A, Sen RK, Satya SD, Prakash V. Is it safe to continue with gamete cryopreservation during the pandemic? A literature review. J Reprod Healthc Med 2021;2(Suppl_1):S105-S11.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 is caused by a novel coronavirus known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and is proving to be an unprecedented disaster for world health. However, the virus’s pathogenic mechanisms with regard to reproductive system remain poorly understood. In addition, compounding the problem is that many cases do not appear to show any disease signs. In ART, the cryopreservation of reproductive cells and tissues represents an important aspect that might be particularly strategic and helpful in this scenario. Cryobanking, an essential service, carries the risk of cross-contamination through cryogenic medium and calls for risk mitigation strategies. This review aims to address the available literature on the safety of cryopreservation of gametes at pandemic times. Strategies for risk mitigation have been extrapolated from reports dealing with other viruses to the current global crisis. At present, critical threats are still undefined and represent potential adverse events due to the cryopreservation of infected gametes that subsequently respread the virus.