The tissue donor is either a deceased person or a living person.

Vessels (arteries and veins), heart valves, musculoskeletal tissue, placental tissue, dermis, adipose tissue for autologous use only

In living-donor donations, tissues are collected during a surgical operation to which the patient/donor is subjected. Donated tissues (saphenous veins, placenta, femoral head) are medical ‘waste’ from surgical procedures that are recovered and, after appropriate treatment, may become suitable for transplantation.

Tissues are used in various surgical fields, such as vascular surgery, reconstructive surgery, orthopaedic surgery, urology, ophthalmology and cardiac surgery. Normally, tissues are used in certain surgical procedures as a substitute for similar artificial or biological devices, as they have advantages over these types of products.

Tissues are stored in special banks.

It is a public health facility that collects, preserves, processes and distributes human tissues for transplantation purposes, ensuring their traceability, quality, suitability and safety.

Usually not, as tissues have low immunogenicity, so rejection is extremely unlikely. Other criteria need to be checked, relating to the characteristics of the tissue, the age of the donor and the type of surgery.

For most tissues, there are no regional or national waiting lists as there are for organ transplantation, as tissue is usually used as a function-saving and a better alternative to other possible therapeutic choices. There may be a wait linked to the operating list of the surgical centre that has to perform the graft or, sometimes, there may be a lack of availability in the banks of the type of tissue required.