Tissue banking programmes in Europe

Abstract

In Europe, organ centres such as Bio Implant Services (BIS) in cooperation with Eurotransplant, play an intermediary role from donation of tissue and organs to allocation and transplantation.They take responsibility for donor medical/safety screening and organize procurement.Tissue banks are autonomous and are responsible for tissue processing and preservation. Allocation of scarce tissues is performed according to rules set by committees of renowned experts in the field. Most frequently donated types of tissues are corneas, heart valves, bone and soft tissue and skin. In this article, optimal serological screening of the donor, and the banking of these tissues in Europe is reviewed in relation to clinical need and volume of transplantable tissues available, number of banks and their organisational level, methods of explantation, processing and preservation, quality standards and new developments.

Analysis of the metabolic deterioration of ex vivo skin from ischemic necrosis through the imaging of intracellular NAD(P)H by multiphoton tomography and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy

“…4 In addition, ex vivo skin is often used as a source of transplantable allografts 4 to treat burns and scalds, providing immediate barrier protection and pain relief while stimulating reepithelialization. 5,6 An issue in using ex vivo skin is maintaining viability and metabolic activity, as these are required to optimally simulate in vivo conditions for percutaneous penetration and to ensure the best clinical outcome for allograft recipients. 4,7 The most appropriate control for assessing the viability of ex vivo skin is in vivo skin, recognizing that ex vivo skin viability decreases over time as a consequence of ischemic necrosis.…”

Skin Graft Preservation

“…A variety of national/international organisations have issued standards or guidelines for tissue banking, including the National Blood Service, British Association for Tissue Banking, and European Association of Tissue Banks, etc (Baxter, 1985;Ben-Bassat et al, 2000;British Association for Tissue Banking, 2011;Chua et al, 2004;European Association of Tissue Banks, 2011;Freedlander et al, 1998;Janezic, 1999;Kalter, 1997;Kearney, 1998;May, 1990;Pillipp et al, 2004;Pianigiani et al, 2005). The core principle of skin banking quality control is to avoid the risk of cross infection and provide high-quality skin grafts for clinical.…”

Effects of a New Allograft Processing Procedure on Graft Healing in a Canine Model: A Preliminary Study

“…In addition, there is a delicate balance between cleaning a graft and maintaining its physical and biologic properties. Chemical methods used to clean grafts include solutions of saline [21], antibiotics [8,32,44,46,52,58], detergents [44,51], alkylating agents [3], halogens [44], peroxides [20,51], organic solvents [44], acids [3,23,40,55], alcohols [3,23,25,32,40,44,46,51,56], and supercritical carbon dioxide [35]. Chemical cleaning commonly is used in conjunction with physical cleaning, such as pressure, vacuum, acoustic energy (ultrasonic bath), and centrifugation.…”