THE NATIONAL Heart Centre has set up the first heart tissue bank this year, so that patients who need human heart valve transplants can get them faster and cheaper.

Usually heart valve patients here use mechanical valves or grafts of animal origin.

However, each year, at least 10 patients in government hospitals - about 10 per cent of patients who need valve replacements - have to rely on human valves from overseas sources because their medical condition does not allow the use of the other cheaper and more easily available valves.

Sourcing for suitable valves overseas may take a few weeks and cost about $7000 each, said Dr Lim Yeong Phang, consultant and medical director of the newly-established National Cardiovascular Homograft Bank.

A locally donated valve can be made available within a few hours and is cheaper by $2000 to $3000.

Since operations started in February, the bank has managed to harvest eight tissue grafts from deceased donors and heart transplant patients who donated their original hearts. The tissue is then stored at -180 degree celsius.

Two patients have since received transplants from the bank.

The need for heart valves is set to increase in the years to come, especially for patients with heart defects at birth, said Dr Lim.

Singapore hospitals started to do heart repairs in the eighties, and such patients will be needing valve replacements after two to three decades when their originally transplanted valves wear out, he explained.

The heart tissue bank was started with a $1 million funding from the health ministry and will also be a storage for tracheal or windpipe tissue.

There are currently about 70 homograft banks worldwide.