title: The implementation of nucleic acid amplification technology  testing for living tissue donors.
abstract: There is a significant requirement within the United Kingdom for tissue grafts from living donors. To ensure safety, blood samples from these donors are tested for pathogens at donation, and at 180 days post donation. Nucleic acid amplification technology (NAT) permits more sensitive detection of pathogens in blood samples than serum antigen testing. NAT testing can be applied to samples from living tissue donors to eliminate the need to re-test these donors 180 days post-donation before grafts can be implanted. This has major financial and operational advantages for a tissue bank, and this manuscript describes how NAT testing was assessed and implemented by NHSBT Tissue Services. When compared to traditional serum antigen testing, NAT testing was more cost effective, more convenient for donors and resulted in a greater proportion of donated grafts being made available for transplant.
authors.affiliation: National Health Service Blood and Transplant Tissue Services, Estuary Banks, Speke, Liverpool L24 8RB, UK. jannine.westby@nhsbt.nhs.uk
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Westby
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Lomas
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Kearney
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D058731:Blood Safety; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006801:Humans; D019520:Living Donors; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity