title: Tissue and corneal donation and transplantation in the UK.
abstract: NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) was established in 2005 as a Special Health Authority when the National Blood Authority and UK Transplant merged. This helped to bring tissue banking and organ transplantation services under one umbrella organization. This merger means that ~!95% of all deceased donors (whether tissue, organ or both) are now facilitated by one organization. NHSBT Tissue Services is the largest tissue establishment in the UK, and is a multi-tissue bank that specializes in the consent, retrieval, processing, storage, and dispatch of donated tissue coordinated from a purpose built, state-of-the-art tissue bank in Liverpool. Tissue donations can come from either tissue-only donors or solid organ donors who also donate tissue. Annually there are ~450 multi-tissue donors and 2500 eye donors in the UK, resulting in many thousands of transplants, including 3564 cornea transplants in 2010-2011. The separation of tissue- and organ-specific donors is largely artificial, and while organ transplantation can be life-saving, tissue transplantation can also have a dramatic effect on a patient's quality of life. It is hoped that all donors, both organ and tissue, will be recognized for the gift they make to society after their death.
authors.affiliation: St Paul's Eye Unit, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool, UK. liezl.gaum@rlbuht.nhs.uk
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gaum
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.forename: M N A
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Clarkson
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Gillan
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Kaye
mesh_terms: D016039:Corneal Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D014015:Tissue Banks; D014019:Tissue Donors; D014021:Tissue Preservation / Q000379:methods; D016378:Tissue Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000379:methods; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D006113:United Kingdom