IOM Convenes Panel Of Medical Experts To Discuss Health Risks Linked To Human Egg Donation

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Fertility
Article Date: 04 Oct 2006 - 6:00 PDT

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Medical and psychological risks associated with human egg donation for the purposes of embryonic stem cell research exist but are not serious enough to restrict research in the field, a panel of medical experts said on Thursday at a meeting in San Francisco hosted by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The process of donating human eggs involves inserting a thin needle through the vagina into the ovary. Prior to the usual procedure, donors undergo a course of hormone injections to help the process of obtaining five to 15 eggs. According to the Chronicle, most experts on the panel said donors face a minimal risk of complications -- including infections, infertility and cancer. Egg donors also face a risk of developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, especially if the woman has an embryo implanted immediately after having eggs retrieved, Marcelle Cedars, head of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of California-San Francisco, said. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome might require hospitalization and could put the woman's life at risk, but the risk of developing the condition for women who are only donating eggs would be at least four times less than for women who also have embryos implanted, according to Cedars. She and several other experts said that the medical factors should be included in a screening system so that only those with normal risks undergo egg retrievals. Experts also recommended that donors be required to undergo comprehensive psychological screenings to measure their ability to understand and tolerate the health risks and sign extensive consent forms to participate. An IOM committee is expected to issue an official report about the medical risks to egg donors based in part on the research discussed at Thursday's meeting. The report is expected to be released in late 2006 or early 2007 and likely will "carry significant influence" on the first grants on egg retrievals for embryonic stem cell research administered by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine under state Proposition 71, the Chronicle reports (San Francisco Chronicle, 9/29).

NPR's "All Things Considered" on Thursday reported on the IOM meeting. The segment includes comments from Joe Palca, science correspondent for NPR (Block, "All Things Considered," NPR, 9/28). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.


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