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Temporal bone dissection: a possible route for prion transmission?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2006

A. Scott
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, City General Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent, UK.
S. A. A. Sadek
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, City General Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent, UK.
M. C. Garrido
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, City General Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent, UK.
R. G. Courteney-Harris
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, City General Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent, UK.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether neural tissue is present in the bone ‘dust’ given off during temporal bone drilling. Bone ‘dust’ from three temporal bone dissections was collected and examined. Evidence of neural tissue was present in two out of the three specimens. Neural tissue is present in the bone dust given off during temporal bone drilling. This poses the question as to the risk of prion transmission during such dissection.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© Royal Society of Medicine Press Limited 2001

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