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Significant variation in heart valve banking practice

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European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The European Blood Alliance (EBA) Tissue and Cells annual benchmarking exercise identified that in 2014, the heart valve (HV) discard rate in tissue establishments (TEs) run by EBA members was between 19 and 65%. Given this significant discard rate, a decision was taken to carry out a worldwide data-gathering exercise to assess the processing methodology in different TEs. In collaboration with the Foundation of European Tissue Banks, a questionnaire asking for the details on HV processing was sent to TEs worldwide. Nineteen questionnaires were received back from 15 European TEs and 4 non-European TEs. The data provided confirmed a significant discard rate of HVs with 43–50% of aortic valves and 20–32% of pulmonary valves being discarded in 2015. The causes of HV discard varied, with microbiology contamination, anatomical and medical reasons being the main causes. This data-gathering exercise highlighted significant variations in practice in different TEs including how donor suitability is assessed, critical timings for heart retrieval and processing, heart rinsing, HV decontamination protocols and methods of microbiological testing. To reduce the discard rates, there are several aspects of HV banking that could be validated and standardised. Here, we report the findings of this data-gathering exercise. We consider this a first step that will help lead to standardising HV banking.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all participating TEs for providing the information for this benchmarking exercise—in alphabetical order:

Allograft Heart Valve Bank, Poland

Banco de Tecidos do Instituto Português do Sangue e da Transplantação

Banco de Tejidos de Cordoba

Banque de Tissus, Paris

Barcelona Tissue Establishment

Birmingham Heart Valve Bank

Bloemfontein Homograft Bank, South Africa

Cardiovascular Tissue Establishment of Milan

Croatian Tissue and Cell Bank

Etablissement Française du Sang, Banque de Tissus et Cellules, Bordeaux

Etablissement Française du Sang, Banque de Tissus et Cellules, Lyon

European Homograft Bank, Brussels

Hema Quebec Tissue Establishment, Canada

NHS Blood and Transplant, Tissue and Eye Services, England

Oxford Heart Valve Bank

Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, Tissue, Cells and Advanced Therapeutics

Thai Red Cross Organ Donation Centre

Tissue Establishment Lund, Sweden

Transplant Tissue Centre, Singapore

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, The Jack Copland Centre, 52 Research Avenue North, Heriot-Watt Research Park, Edinburgh, EH14 4BE, UK

    Sharon Zahra

  2. National Blood Transfusion Service, Pietà, Malta

    George Galea

  3. European Homograft Bank St. Jean Clinique, Brussels, Belgium

    Ramadan Jashari

  4. Foundation of European Tissue Banks, Berlin, Germany

    Pieter Petit

  5. Erasmus Medisch Centrum, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Theo M. M. H. de By

Authors
  1. Sharon Zahra
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  2. George Galea
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  3. Ramadan Jashari
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  4. Pieter Petit
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  5. Theo M. M. H. de By
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sharon Zahra.

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We can confirm that this work has been carried out in compliance with Ethical Standards. There is no conflict of interest for any of the authors. Ethical approval was not required. Informed consent is not relevant for this work.

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Zahra, S., Galea, G., Jashari, R. et al. Significant variation in heart valve banking practice. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 38, 1491–1498 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-019-03577-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-019-03577-0

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