Human ovarian gross morphology and subanatomy across puberty: insights from tissue donated during fertility preservation

OBJECTIVE: To study ovarian gross morphologic and subanatomic features across pubertal development. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: An academic medical center with specimens collected from 2018–2022. PATIENT(S): Tissue was obtained from prepubertal and postpubertal participants (0.19–22.96 years) undergoing ovarian tissue cryopreservation before treatment that put them at a significantly or high increased risk of developing premature ovarian insufficiency. Most participants (64%) had not received chemotherapy at tissue collection. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Ovaries procured for fertility preservation were weighed and measured. Ovarian tissue fragments released during processing, biopsies used for pathology, and hormone panels were analyzed for gross morphology, subanatomic features, and reproductive hormones. Graphical analysis of best-fit lines determined age at maximum growth velocity. RESULT(S): Prepubertal ovaries were significantly (1.4-fold and 2.4-fold) smaller than postpubertal ovaries by length and width and 5.7-fold lighter on average. Length, width, and weight grew in a sigmoidal pattern with age. Prepubertal ovaries were less likely to display a defined corticomedullary junction (53% vs. 77% in postpubertal specimens), less likely to have a tunica albuginea (22% vs. 93% in postpubertal specimens), contained significantly more (9.8-fold) primordial follicles, and contained primordial follicles at significantly deeper depths (2.9-fold) when compared with postpubertal ovaries. CONCLUSION(S): Ovarian tissue cryopreservation is a resource to study human ovarian biology and pubertal development. Maximum growth velocity occurs late within the pubertal transition (Tanner 3+) after changes in subanatomic features. This ovarian morphology model adds to foundational knowledge of human ovarian development and supports ongoing transcriptomics research.