Medical data
After the death of the donor, the Heart Tissue Bank requests the complete medical record from the treating physicians. The availability of the donor’s medical data is essential to perform good scientific research. Based on the medical records, an employee of the Heart Tissue Bank prepares a summary with all important medical information (e.g., known medical history of cardiac diseases and medication usage). This summary is compiled in such a way that it no longer contains identifiable information about the donor. The researcher only receives this summary and therefore never has access to the donor’s complete medical record. Because a file can contain sensitive information, we process and store the data in full accordance with the rules of secrecy and confidentiality.
In addition, when you register, we will ask whether you have previously participated in scientific research, and ask permission to request these results after death. This previously collected data in combination with the heart tissue can have great added value for researchers.