If you have questions about allografts, this is the place to find answers in easy-to-understand, non-medical language.
What are allografts?
Allografts are tissues transplanted from one person to another. The tissue comes from a deceased donor and represents a gift from the donor family to enhance the quality of life for other people. Allografts are used in a host of medical treatments such as knee replacements, heart valve replacement, spinal fusions, eye surgery and skin grafts for the severely burned.
Where does the tissue come from?
Allografts come from voluntarily donated human tissue. Either the deceased donor has documented his or her choice to be a donor or the family has made the decision following death. Organ and tissue donation represents a gift from the donor and the donor family.
What does it cost?
The costs associated with organ and tissue donation are covered by the Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) and are not passed on to the donor family.
Is allograft transplantation safe?
The chances of disease and/or infection transmission from allograft transplantation remain positively minute, estimated to be less than one in 1.6 million. There has never been a confirmed incident of disease transmission from AlloSource tissue.
What type of safety screening occurs?
Prior to processing, all potential tissue donors undergo a comprehensive screening that includes a physical assessment, medical history and social risk review. Tissue is then recovered and tests are performed on blood and tissue samples to screen for disease and bacterial infection. Testing required by FDA and AATB includes screens for HIV, Hepatitis B and C, and syphilis.
How is this industry regulated?
There are presently three primary influences on tissue banking: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) and the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA).
Will the recipients discover the identity of the donor?
Donation usually remains anonymous. In some cases recipients and donor families may wish to contact each other. Efforts to unite a donor family with a recipient are typically coordinated by the Organ Procurement Organization (OPO).
An autograft is tissue removed from one part of a person’s body and transplanted into another part of the same person’s body. An allograft is tissue recovered from a deceased tissue donor and transplanted into another person.