A multi-tissue bank will be installed at Crer.
The unit will be the first in the Central-West region and will meet the demand of the entire region; the project has already been approved by the Ministry of Health and is now in the phase of releasing federal funds; work is expected to begin in the second half of the year.
Goiás Now Goiás will be the first state in the Central-West region to have a Multitissue Bank for transplants. The unit will operate at the Dr. Henrique Santillo Rehabilitation and Readaptation Center (Crer), and will be regulated by the Transplant Center of the Health Secretariat. The project has already been approved by the Ministry of Health and is now in the phase of releasing federal funds. Work is expected to begin in the second half of this year. This new facility will benefit not only Crer patients, but also burn and accident victims from across the state and region.
The tragedy in Santa Maria brought to light an important discussion: in Brazil there are not enough skin banks to treat burn victims. In the fire in the city of Rio Grande do Sul, which caused the death of two hundred young people and left more than 100 hospitalized, countries such as Uruguay and Argentina were contacted to donate tissues to help treat the injured.
Skin scarcity
Only Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Sul, and São Paulo have skin banks, and their stocks are insufficient to treat the large number of patients with severe burns. According to the Brazilian Association of Organ Transplantation (ABTO), last year only 18 skin donations were usable nationwide. In comparison, 11.744 corneas were donated during the same period.
Skin is harvested from patients who have been diagnosed with brain death, with the authorization of family members. Donations are hampered by doubts and popular myths, such as the disfigurement of the body. However, the layer of tissue removed is extremely thin, thinner than a sheet of paper, and from areas of the body that are not exposed. "The law requires the reconstruction of the body in any case of organ removal," explains Luciano Leão, manager of the Goiás Transplant Center.
In Goiás, the Multitissue Bank will collect donations of skin, tendons, and bones, which have not yet been performed in the state, as well as bone marrow and corneas. According to the technical coordinator of the Center, Zima Masson, "the procedures currently performed in Goiás hospitals are autologous, that is, skin taken from other areas of the patient's own body, or with tissues from banks in other states."