BONE BANKING IN DENMARK, RESULTS OF A NATIONWIDE SURVEY

In a nationwide survey, all orthopaedic clinics were surveyed via a qu estionnaire about the use of bone allografts and how they managed thei r bone banks. Thirty-two clinics (100 per cent) responded to the quest ionnaire (mid 1991). Seventeen clinics had established bane banks on t he basis of femoral heads obtained from donors during primary hip repl acement. Only five used bone substitutes. The mean consumption was 30 capita per year (10-132) and ten clinics estimated an increasing deman d for allografts. The storage method was by freezing at temperatures v arying from minus 20 to minus 80 degrees Celsius. Contraindications to procurement comprised history of infection and malignancy, all clinic s tested donors for HIV antibodies and all but one for hepatitis B. Te sting for hepatitis C was about to be introduced. All but one clinic d eveloped cultures from the procured bone. Informed consent was employe d by nearly all clinics, but very few obtained written consent. Since this survey, revised recommendations have been directed from the Danis h National Board of Health, these listing that an HIV-test should be p erformed with a 90-day interval, and that testing should also be done for hepatitis B and C. International experience and this survey show t hat the establishment of more specific and general national recommenda tions would be preferable to present practice.