Bone marrow trephine biopsy in infants. European Neuroblastoma Study Group

Central review of bone marrow trephine biopsies obtained between January 1990 and July 1996 from 282 children with neuroblastoma showed that 18% of cores from older children and an unacceptably high 36% from infants were inadequate (p = 0.0002). Centres should choose their operators for this invasive investigation of infants with more care in order to reduce the failure rate.