1. Wear of a highly cross-linked polyethylene liner: a preliminary RSA study
- Author
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Kjell G. Nilsson, Graham Mercer, Vanessa Wells, Stuart A. Callary, David G. Campbell, and John R. Field
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Cross-linked polyethylene ,Osteolysis ,business.industry ,Aseptic loosening ,Dentistry ,medicine.disease ,Radiostereometric Analysis ,Surgery ,Femoral head ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Orthopedic surgery ,medicine ,Orthopedics and Sports Medicine ,business ,Prospective cohort study ,Total hip arthroplasty - Abstract
Wear induced peri-prosthetic osteolysis and aseptic loosening remain the major contributing factors to failure of total hip arthroplasty. To reduce wear particles from acetabular liners, the process of polyethylene cross-linking has been modified. In this study, we examine the wear of Marathon™ acetabular liners using Radiostereometric Analysis. Thirty patients were enrolled in a prospective cohort study. Femoral head penetration was calculated for 25 patients at 6 months, 1 and 2 years postoperatively. The mean proximal head penetration was 0.067 mm at 6 months, 0.113 mm at 1 year and 0.120 mm at 2 years. The mean three-dimensional femoral head penetration was 0.240 mm at 6 months, 0.230 mm at 1 year and 0.232 mm at 2 years. For both parameters, there was no measurable wear between 1 and 2 years, and the mean annual linear wear was less than 0.06 mm/year, which is less than the suggested osteolysis threshold for polyethylene. All patients demonstrated a dramatic improvement in clinical scores. These results were comparable with other studies that used alternative techniques with conventional radiography to evaluate wear for Marathon™. Long-term studies using the RSA method are recommended to further quantify the clinical performance of this polyethylene liner.
- Published
- 2009
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