Appraising 5 years in activity of the largest public Canadian vascular graft bank.

BACKGROUND: In Canada, tissue distribution is managed by provincial entities. In 2014, Hema-Quebec established a cryopreserved vascular tissue bank accessible to all Canadian hospitals. The objectives of this report were to review the first 5 years of activity of Hema-Quebec's vascular bank and to briefly assess the competitiveness of its products. METHODS: Deceased donors, ages 15 to 60, were screened for common blood-borne diseases. Grafts were treated in a triple-antibiotic solution at 35°C before preservation at -100°C. Hema-Quebec's vascular graft records were analyzed from 2014 to 2019 inclusively. RESULTS: The average donor age was 35 years old and 78% of donors were men. Overall, 63% of harvested grafts cleared the quality management system. Positive microbial cultures and morphologic defects were the major reasons for graft discard. As such, a total of 60 grafts were delivered between 2016 and 2019 to 8 hospital centers. Moreover, the bank achieved a mean activity increase of 55% per year and Hema-Quebec's homografts were 48% less costly compared with similar homographs from for-profit organizations. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that Hema-Quebec has established a viable cryopreserved vascular tissue bank with steady increase in activity and an acceptable graft discard rates and pricing. Based on our findings, we recommend that efforts should be directed to expand the tissue bank graft distribution outside the province of Quebec.

Development of national system performance metrics for tissue donation, production, and distribution activity.

Canada's federal, provincial, and territorial governments gave Canadian Blood Services a mandate for organ and tissue donation and transplantation, including system performance, data and analytics. In 2012 Canadian Blood Services facilitated an eye and tissue banking workshop focused on standardized specifications and practices. At the workshop, the Canadian tissue community directed Canadian Blood Services to facilitate the development and implementation of a national data stream and analytics. Prior to this no national data was prospectively collected or collated on tissue donation, production or distribution activity. An eye and tissue data committee was formed with representation from eye and tissue banks in all Canadian jurisdictions. A minimum data set, standardized definitions, a data submission form and a quality assurance process was developed. Training was provided to data personal identified by each eye and tissue bank. Data collection was initiated January 1, 2013; with quarterly data submitted to Canadian Blood Services via excel spreadsheet. Data was submitted by sixteen Canadian eye and tissue banks, located in eight of Canada's thirteen provinces and territories, representing a census of activity. Annual data reports, with trend analysis, are generated and distributed to the tissue community to inform operational strategy and system performance improvement. This report provides an overview of the data process and provides visibility to the Canadian tissue donation, production and distribution activities for 3 years; January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2015.