Analysis of Potential Causes of Positive Microbiological Cultures in Tissue Donors

The purpose of this statistical analysis is to determine what factors are the major contributors to bacterial contamination of recovered human cadaveric tissue. In this study we analyzed factors that could contribute to an increased bacterial bioburden from recovered tissues using the following independent variables: (1) the physical recovery environment; (2) recovery before or after an autopsy; (3) the length of time from death to recovery; (4) the cause of death; (5) the length of time to complete recovery; (6) the number of staff involved with the tissue recovery; and (7) the impact of organ and skin recovery on musculoskeletal contamination rates.