[Experimental study of the thermic effect on bone at 60 degrees C, as applied to bone allograft]

Bone reconstruction methods increasingly often require using bank bone. These massive bone fragments can be taken only from dead subjects or those in irreversible coma. Surgical sterility of the samples does not always guarantee the absence of an HIV infection, for which seroconversion often occurs very late. B. Spire's work has shown the effectiveness of a 30-minute heat treatment at 56 degrees C to inactivate HIV in blood products. Our study has therefore evaluated the effectiveness of a heat treatment method for bone to inactivate HIV on one hand, and the mechanical and histologic consequences of this treatment on rabbit bone. All bone fragments in this study were frozen at -80 degrees C to reproduce the same conditions of use as in current bone banks. Heating deep-frozen fragments of spongious tissue and of bone marrow from seropositive subjects in a 60 degrees C humid heat allowed confirming thermal sterilization of HIV, but a greater number of case is required to support this technique, as well as a verification with cortical bone. Thermal sterilization of bone allografts does not alter the mechanical properties nor the possibilities of bone regrowth in allografts. Application to human bone allografts should be confirmed by a greater number of cases, but it appears as a simple means to suppress the current disadvantage of late seroconversion control.