Standardization of the cryopreservation process for parathyroid glands

The treatment of secondary Hyperparathyroidism may require cryopreservation of parathyroid glands to allow autotransplant. So far, cryopreservation and cryostorage has been done by the clinicians themselves. In some cases, investment in necessary equipment was not effective due to the small number of cases. In this paper, we evaluate a new combination of cryopreservation and transportation processes. The intention was to facilitate cryopreservation in the hospital and to store the tissue in a facility conforming to GMP. The tissue is stored in the gas phase of liquid nitrogen (LIN) in a cryostorage vessel. Tissue viability and function can be kept high to optimise the overall results. The high cryopreservation standards and the necessary equipment allows hospitals to use Good Storing Practice (GSP) and to reduce process costs. At the central facility, a new standard of storing tissue has been introduced, which enables a closed cooling chain and automated data collection as well as the storage of the tissue.