Dr. Sherman Silber, a renowned pioneer in microsurgery and infertility, is considered one of the world's leading authorities on IVF, sperm retrieval, ICSI, vasectomy reversal, tubal ligation reversal, egg and embryo freezing, ovary transplantation, and the reproductive biological clock. He has contributed major scientific breakthroughs to our understanding of quantitative sperm production, epididymal physiology, and the successful treatment of the most severe forms of male and female sterility. He performed the world's first microsurgical vasectomy reversal, as well as the first testicle transplant and the world's first ovary transplant. He developed, along with his Brussels colleagues, the TESE-ICSI technique for retrieving a few sperm from hopelessly sterile men who appear to be creating no sperm and thereby achieve normal pregnancy rates. His research also includes the study of reproduction and fertility in zoo animals and endangered species in the wild. He directs one of the most successful high tech programs in the world for fertilization in couples with severe infertility problems.
Dr. Silber has treated many thousands of infertile couples who travel to St. Louis daily from all over the world. His patients come from every state in the U.S.A., all over Europe, South America, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. His patients include doctors, teachers, rock stars, secretaries, politicians, astronauts, movie stars, scientists, truck drivers, lawyers, migrant fruit pickers, CEO's, princes and kings.
"The Top 10 Medical Stories of 2008"
by Lauren Cox and Dan Childs
ABC News, December 24, 2008
This year marked a number of important medical advances and intriguing health news. To help narrow the large list, ABCNews.com reached out to the top medical centers and doctors in a wide range of fields...
No. 2: Birth From a Whole Ovary Transplant
Dr. Sherman Silber and his surgical team perform the first ever whole ovary transplant.
On Dec. 10, a baby girl was born from the first-ever full ovary transplant.
The baby's mother had lost her fertility when she went into early menopause at age 15 because of another medical problem. Later in life her twin sister (the baby's aunt) donated a working ovary so that she may conceive. At age 38, she gave birth for the first time.
Dr. Sherman Silber of the Infertility Center of St. Louis and his colleagues reported the medical advance.
A handful of other children have been born from transplanted ovarian tissue, specifically the outer shell, but the technique is not always successful.
Since the baby's successful birth, doctors are anticipating using the technique to help women with fertility problems, or cancer patients who wish to protect their ovaries from chemotherapy.
Silber told Reuters that the technique of transplanting frozen ovaries may one day be used to lengthen a woman's fertility across her lifetime.
"If she's 40 or 45 when she has it transplanted back, it's still a 25- or 30-year-old ovary, so she's preserving her fertility," Silber told Reuters. |
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