Acquisition and clonal growth of human sternal bone marrow obtained incidental to open-heart surgery.

The establishment of a convenient method of acquiring ample human bone marrow and the successful growth of hematopoietic precursor cells in standard methylcellulose assay is described. Human sternal marrow curettings were obtained at open-heart surgery. Growth of colonies derived from CFU-gm, BFU-e, and CFU-e was successful. Comparison of the CFU-gm colony production between this and prior studies indicates a consistent mean and range of growth. These results document this to be an efficient source of normal human marrow.