Bone banking in Canada: a review.

Transplantation of human tissues has become increasingly popular, and associated with this increase are reports of the transmission of diseases including acquired immune deficiency syndrome. To reduce the risk of transmitting disease through transplantation, careful scrutiny of current tissue transplantation procedures is necessary. Bone banking in Canada was evaluated by questionnaire, sent to the head operating room nurse of every Canadian hospital listed in the 1986 Canadian Medical Directory as having 100 or more beds. From this questionnaire, the authors identified 60 bone banks in Canada, many of which failed to meet recommended guidelines. The authors review the literature relating to bone banking procedures and present in detail the results of their survey.