Human Ganglia and Spinal Cord Tissue Procurement from Organ Donors and Tissue Quality Assessment v1

Purpose Describe the human nervous tissue removal, preservation, storage, and transportation procedures during tissue procurement from organ donors. Responsibility The Human Tissue Procurement and Processing core at the University of Texas at Dallas is responsible for maintaining this protocol, ensuring it is updated and controlled, and ensuring that users receive proper training prior to its implementation. Definitions and Abbreviations aCSF = artificial cerebral spinal fluid BD = Brain Dead COD = Cause of Death CTOD = Called Time of Death DCD = Donation upon cardiac death Donor ID = UNOS identification number assigned to each donor; provided by the donor network DRG = dorsal root ganglion HSG = human sensory ganglia NMDG = N-Methyl-D-glucamine OCT = optimal cutting temperature OPO = organ procurement organization ORC = operating room coordinator OR = operating room PPE = personal protective equipment SCG = sympathetic chain ganglion UTD = The University of Texas at Dallas Tissue Recovery Sites OPO headquarters Local hospitals Tissue Recovery Teams OPO Surgical Staff UTD Recovery Teams: 2 members (graduate students and post-doctoral scientists) per team