Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) is an Institute of National Importance under Govt of India (Act 52 of 1980) which has a referral hospital offering tertiary care advanced treatment for cardiac and neurological disease. The Department of Cardiac surgery which has both adult and paediatric divisions offers treatment for various types of cardiac diseases including congenital and acquired valvular diseases requiring homograft cardiac valves for corrective surgery.

 

A joint collaborative programme between SCTIMST and Govt. Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram was therefore initiated for the purpose of harvesting, processing and subsequent implantation of homograft valves into the patients requiring them.  The paper outlines the process of obtaining consent, the eligibility and exclusion criteria and factors responsible for lack of consent in cases which are fit for harvest.  Valves were harvested from persons who had died of Road Traffic Accident (21.4%) and hanging (10.14%) mainly during the period 2006 – 2012.  The rate of consent for the harvest of organs was found to be 50.72 %.  Harvest could not be materialized in 20 % of cases due to logistic reasons.  Absence of immediate relatives (as per THOAct) in the mortuary premises and unwillingness on the part of relatives to consent were the major causes for the low rate of harvest.