Three babies and a fourth patient received donor tissue from a patient who had brain cancer, Queensland Health authorities have revealed.
Queensland's chief health officer Jeannette Young made the alarming revelations while announcing a review into the state's trouble-plagued heart valve bank.
While admitting it was a terrible mistake, Ms Young said the tissue was only "potentially" contaminated because the donor had cancer.
"The risk to any of those four individuals is incredibly low of there being any adverse outcome from having that tissue grafted," she said on Friday.
Dr Young said all four families had been notified of the mistake and there would be ongoing monitoring of their health.
But she stressed because they had heart tissue transplants, they would have been subject to regular check-ups regardless.
The donor had gliosarcoma, a malignant form of brain cancer, while all four patients - three babies under 12 months and a young adult - received heart valve tissue.
Queensland Health has conducted a preliminary review, but an independent review will now be conducted to find out how the mistake happened and whether it was an isolated case.
A report is due before the end of the year.
Valve bank closure 'unrelated'
Queensland Health could not rule out the possibility that other patients had been given contaminated tissue, although Dr Young again stressed it was "very unlikely".
"This was one, single event, that has impacted on four people's lives. There is not any risk, because we've gone and looked further, to other people," she said.
The valve bank has been closed since January, with two staff suspended on full pay and doctors forced to source tissue from donors interstate.
The closure was due to an apparently unrelated issue over mismanagement at the facility, with the Crime and Corruption Commission and Metro South Health both looking into the matter.
Health Minister Steven Miles did not appear at the press conference on Friday but issued a statement reiterating an inquiry into the incident had been launched.
"I want this review to find out why this happened, and make sure it never happens again," he said in the statement.
It follows Mr Miles telling state parliament last month no donors would be affected by the closure.
Dr Young said Mr Miles didn't attend the press conference because the issue was an internal one, but Liberal National Party opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates accused the minister of hiding from the scandal.
"Issues at the tissue bank were raised by the LNP just a few weeks ago and dismissed by Steven Miles in the Parliament," she said in a statement.
"Clearly that was not correct and he now has serious questions to answer."
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