Studies on heat treatment for immediate reimplantation of resected bone.

Extracorporeal heat treatment for devitalizing the tumour-infiltrated bone segment without destroying its regenerative potential was investigated for the purpose of immediate reimplantation of the resected bone. Effects of heat treatment on cell viability and bone inductive properties were studied in cultured tumour cells and animal models. Heat treatment at 65 degrees C for 30 to 120 minutes resulted in complete devitalization of cells, preserving osteogenetic properties of the allogenic bone implant in the rabbit. The results of the experiments indicate that this procedure has advantages in devitalizing the resected bone for its immediate reimplantation and justify clinical application. The clinical application of this heat treatment in 3 cases is presented.