Table II.

Sources of human ovarian tissue for evaluation of growth factors.

Source	Fresh/frozen	Advantages	Disadvantages
Oophorectomy specimens, Abir et al. (1997)	Fresh and frozen	Large samples may be obtained	Advanced age of the donor, often few follicles
Part of the patient's frozen tissue, Xu et al. (2009c)	Fresh or frozen	Often good numbers of follicles obtained	Reduces the tissue left for clinical use
Transsexuals' tissue, Van den Broecke et al. (2001)	Fresh or frozen	Many follicles obtained	Androgen-treated
Donated biopsy specimens in tubal ligation or other laparoscopies, Scott et al. (2004a, b)	Fresh or frozen	Relatively easy to obtain	Varying numbers of follicles, infertile women, no ideal patient group
Tissue from donors who have died, Schmidt et al. (2005)	Frozen	Often good numbers of follicles obtained	Rare samples
Donated biopsy specimens from Caesarean sections, Carlsson et al. (2006a, b; 2009)	Fresh or frozen	Frequently performed operation, fertile women, good numbers of follicles obtained	Careful bloodless collection procedure required, small pieces