Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin has written to around 20 parents to confirm that the pituitary glands of their children were passed on to a pharmaceutical company to extract growth hormones.
The issue first arose around four years ago as part of the organ retention inquiry, but the hospital has only confirmed this week, through late information supplied by the company Pharmacia Ireland Ltd, which families were affected.
The pituitary gland is a small structure around 1 centimetre in size at the base of the brain, which assists in the production of human growth hormone.
Children deficient in the hormone can have their growth seriously impaired. A means of isolating the hormone from pituitary glands harvested during autopsies was discovered in the 1960s.
Hospitals in Ireland and internationally participated in one or other of a number of international pituitary programmes until a synthetic form of the hormone became available in the 1980s, the hospital said in a statement.
"In 2000 the hospital became aware that pituitary glands had been forwarded to Pharmacia Ireland Ltd from Our Lady's Hospital as part of this international programme to extract growth hormone.
"It provided this information to families who contacted the hospital but because Pharmacia Ireland Ltd wrote to say that they were unable to trace any individual patient records, the hospital was not in a position to provide definitive information about individual patients.
"Pharmacia Ireland Ltd has recently advised Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children Crumlin of the existence of documentary evidence, from the period 1981-1984 which firstly establishes that the hospital did supply pituitary glands in a number of cases and secondly enables the hospital to identify those post mortems where it occurred."
It said it regretted any distress this new information has caused to families and added that its confidential helpline, set up in December 1999, continues to be available to those seeking support.
The number is 01-4096715 or 01-4096552 and is open Monday to Friday from 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A spokeswoman for the hospital said that other hospitals besides Our Lady's Hospital are also affected by the issue, which is before the Dunne inquiry.
The Dunne inquiry, headed by Ms Anne Dunne SC, was established by the Minister for Health in 2000 to independently establish the facts in relation to past practice relating to post-mortem examinations and related issues.
Its remit is also to restore full public confidence in hospitals and in the necessity for post-mortem examinations, including organ retention for such purposes as further diagnoses.
The minister said the inquiry was also designed to provide public assurance that "any previous practice which might now be judged unacceptable will not recur".