Storage tank malfunction compromises thousands of frozen eggs
Hundreds of families’ dreams of having a baby using frozen eggs or embryos may have been dashed due to a storage tank malfunction at an Ohio fertility center.
The temperature in one of the site’s two liquid nitrogen tanks storing specimens at University Hospitals’ UH Fertility Center in suburban Cleveland rose above acceptable limits overnight Saturday, according to the Plain Dealer.
The liquid nitrogen freezer held about 2,000 egg and embryo specimens, according to James Liu, chairman of the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UH Cleveland Medical Center. Some patients had more than one sample stored. Some of the samples were provided in the 1980s.
Patti DePompei, president of University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and MacDonald Women’s Hospital, called the situation “absolutely devastating.”
It is exacerbated by the fact that the only way to determine if the specimens are viable is to thaw them, Liu told the Plain Dealer. That only happens when the samples are used in order to avoid any damage. Some samples that were unfrozen for scheduled procedures this week were not viable. It’s not clear how many of the samples may be similarly damaged.
The reason for the malfunction is still unknown. "Until we know the issue that caused this,” Liu said, “we will be monitoring the tank 24/7.”
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