Retesting of bone donors 2 months after donation guarantees sufficient safety of bone allografts

Both allogeneic bone grafting and blood transfusion may transmit infections from the donor to the recipient. The most effective means to reduce the ri sk of infection is careful donor selection and screening of donors for mark ers of infection. The risk of blood transfusion-transmitted HIV infection i n Finland, calculated with the incidence/window period model, is approximat ely 1:3,300,000. The calculated risk for hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) is 1 :217,000 and 1:147,000 donations, respectively. In bone banking we can furt her reduce the risks by retesting the living donors. Retesting 2 months aft er donation seems to be sufficient, at least in countries with a low incide nce of transplantation-transmitted infections.