Risks of the Neurologist's Pin

To the Editor: Because of recent concern over the transmission of “slow-virus” diseases to surgical or autopsy personnel, recipients of corneal transplants, and patients undergoing brain studies with depth electrodes, we would like to remind readers of the potential infectivity of the neurologist's pin.^{1 2 3} During routine sensory testing of a 31-year-old woman known to be a chronic asymptomatic carrier of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), her blood contaminated the neurologist's pin. The sensory examination was completed with two other pins, without further contamination from blood. Electron-microscopical examination of each of the three pins failed to reveal hepatitis viral particles. HBsAg.