Viable cells survive in fresh frozen human bone allografts.

Background: Fresh frozen bone allograft is available for human recipients after at least 6 months of quarantine at -80 degrees C. It is assumed that cryopreservation without cryoprotectant removes all viable donor cells.

Methods: We studied the in vitro cell growth from samples of fresh frozen human femoral head allografts after they had been released for patient use, and compared it with cell growth from a control group of fresh cancellous bone specimens from excised femoral heads (8 samples in each group).