RT Journal
A1 Moran, Christopher G.
A1 Chapman, Michael W.
A1 Bucholz, Robert
A1 Cornell, Charles
T1 Correspondence
JF The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery
JO The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery
YR 1998
FD March 1
VO 80
IS 3
SP 454
OP 454
DO 
UL http://dx.doi.org/
AB 
    I enjoyed the article "Treatment of Acute Fractures with a Collagen-Calcium Phosphate Graft Material. A Randomized Clinical Trial" (79-A: 495—502, April 1997), by Chapman et al. I was interested to note that the collagen component of the graft material was purified bovine dermal collagen. There are concerns that bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease (a prion disease closely related to Creutzfeldt-Jakob syndrome), may be transmitted from cattle to humans. Prion protein is extremely difficult to destroy, and I am interested to know what steps are taken during the production of the collagen graft to ensure that these proteins are not present within the graft material.