Banking of cryopreserved iliac artery and vein homografts: clinical uses in transplantation

Iliac artery and vein homografts are critical for revascularization in living-donor liver transplantation. Since 2010, National Cardiovascular Homograft Bank and National University Hospital have collaborated in the pioneer endeavor of banking iliac vessel homografts for such surgeries in Singapore. This article aims to demonstrate that the processing, decontamination and cryopreservation techniques that our bank follow, help preserve iliac vessel homografts for a longer duration as compared to homografts preserved using short-term preservation techniques. This paper reports the first 4 years of post-operative outcome for recipients as a preliminary report for a longer-term outcome study. Criteria for donor assessment, techniques of iliac vessel homograft recovery, processing, decontamination, cryopreservation and storage according to the American Association of Tissue Banks standards are also described. From 2010 until 2013, we discovered of the iliac vessel homografts processed, 17 (94.4 %) were suitable for clinical use. Nine iliac artery grafts (64 %) and one iliac vein graft (14 %) were implanted. Irrespective of vessel type, homografts