Preserved, Allogeneic Bone Grafts in Orthopaedic Reconstructions

Preserved allogeneic bone grafts have been used in orthopaedic reconstructions for many years [1,2,4,10,12]. Therapeutic effects of such transplantations have been reported in numerous papers [3,5–7,11,13,15]. General opinions about the effect of such transplantations are favorable. Literature reports have dealt mainly with the use of grafts in particular clinical situations and that do not permit the direct evaluation of the role of grafts. This study has been undertaken in our tissue bank to elucidate the role of preserved bone grafts based on a significant number of patients undergoing bone transplantation [9]. Having cooperation with nearly 200 hospitals throughout the country, we have selected patients from three units in which over 100 transplantations were performed in one year. The analysis covered approximately 45% of the patients operated in those units during that time. Data concerning 1014 patients have been collected. The mean age of patients was 14.3 years, with a very high standard deviation (S.D.) of 15.8 years. The prevailing diagnoses included congenital lesions (37.7%), benign tumors (18.3%) and scolioses (10.8%). Pathologic malformations requiring surgery were localized mainly in the hips (37.9%), vertebral column (25.6%) and femur (15.4%). The patients were examined 24 to 63 months after surgery. The effect of treatment and patient condition was determined by the same team that had performed the surgery. In this manner data on 1014 patients were collected. Some biological and clinical variables were coded and their correlations with the results of treatment were analysed. The following conclusions are based on this material.