[HIV detection in the bone transplant with polymerase chain reaction]

In trauma surgery, bone transplantation was needed in nearly 15% of all operations for reconstruction of defects. A high risk of viral infection remains in transplantation, however, cocultivation procedures have shown that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) resides in bone of HIV-infected persons. Safety guidelines for running bone banks were not always easy to follow, and physical or chemical procedures applied for disinfection failed to inactivate HIV-1. In the present study we show that the polymerase chain reaction technique is an appropriate and sensitive means of detecting the HIV-1 genome in bone material prior to transplantation and-used in this way-can help to diminish the risk of HIV-1 transmission via bone transplantation.