Ova-PRP

What is Ovarian Rejuvenation?

Ovarian Rejuvenation treatment is a newly pioneered procedure which for the first time may offers hope to women who suffer from early premature ovarian failure, diminish ovarian reserve, premenopausal, perimenopausal, menopausal and to those who are advanced in reproductive age, had repeated IVF failure or repeated poor egg quality. Women always have eggs inside their ovaries but most of these eggs are dormant. OVA-PRP intend to rejuvenate ovarian tissue, stimulate vascularization, in order to improve blood supply and finally re-awake these dormant eggs into maturation and development within the ovary.

Alpha IVF started a clinical trial examining whether ovarian rejuvenation using autologous platelet-rich plasma (A-PRP) could improve egg quantity and quality in these women and gives women additional options before a woman chooses to move on to third-party reproduction options such as using egg donation or embryo donation.

There have been a series of case reports in the medical literature of successful regeneration of eggs in women by injecting A-PRP into the ovaries which are thought to activate egg precursor cells by cytokines and growth factors released from activated PRP. A-PRP has been successfully and widely used in other medical application such as in sports medicine, dentistry, orthopaedics, plastic surgery to speed healing and repair in bone, skin, re-grow hair and sport injuries, among other indications.

OVA-PRP is a treatment procedure where PRP is directly injected into a patient’s ovaries (intraovarian injection) with her own PRP (autologous). The process includes:

8-10ml of venous blood is drawn
Embryologist then separates the blood and concentrate the PRP. The platelets will then be activated to release their growth factors
The patient is then administered IV sedation, and during this time, a trained fertility specialist will inject the PRP into both ovaries via transvaginal ultrasound guidance. The procedure is essentially the same as oocyte pick up with the only difference being that during Ova-PRP the specialist do not aspirate but infuse.
The patient is discharged the same day

Following the procedure, the hormone levels and antral follicles counts of the patient will be monitored for 1-3 months. Patient will receive GnRH antagonist protocol and undergo an ICSI/IVF cycle if improve in hormonal levels are observed.

Candidates for Ova-PRP

Poor ovarian reserve
Poor ovarian response
Repeated poor IVF outcomes
Advanced maternal age
Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) / Premature Ovarian Failure (POF)
Premenopausal/ Perimenopausal/ Menopausal

Is Ova-PRP safe?

PRP injection is practically risk free and safe since it is autologous, which uses patient’s own blood to inject into the ovaries. There are no harmful substances introduce into your body and it is a minimal invasive procedure. However, intraovarian administration requires sedation, just like you would be sedated in an IVF cycle during egg collection. The side effects may include light pain after the procedure in some patients. There are no known risks other than those associated with ovarian injection, which would be the same risks with egg collection in IVF.