THE FEMORAL COMPONENT IN TOTAL HIP-ARTHROPLASTY - 6 TO 8-YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF 100 CONSECUTIVE PATIENTS AFTER USE OF A 3RD-GENERATION CEMENTINGTECHNIQUE

One hundred consecutive patients had a primary unilateral total hip ar throplasty with use of a single design of the femoral component (Harri s Precoat), inserted,vith a so-called third generation cementing techn ique, between July 1985 and June 1987. There were seventy-four women a nd twenty-six men. The mean age at the time of the operation was seven ty one years (range, forty-one to ninety-two years) and the mean weigh t was seventy kilograms (range, forty-eight to 105 kilograms). Eleven of the 100 patients died during the followup period, all,vith the impl ant in place. Of the eighty-nine surviving patients, one had a revisio n arthroplasty for aseptic loosening. The mean duration of clinical fo llow-up for the remaining eighty-eight patients was seven years (range , six to eight years). The mean Harris hip score at the latest follow- up evaluation was 91 points (range, 68 to 97 points). Of the eighty-ei ght patients, eighty-five (97 per cent) had a good or excellent result . Radiographic follow-up was performed for eighty-one patients; none h ad evidence of loosening of the stem, and five (6 per cent) had endost eal cavitation but were asymptomatic. The rate of failure (loosening o r revision) of the femoral component in the entire series was 1 per ce nt (one hip). The low rate of failure and the maintenance of good and excellent clinical and radiographic results during this period of foll ow-up are consistent,vith reports from other institutions. This streng thens the argument to retain or widen the existing indications for the insertion of a femoral stem with cement in primary total hip arthropl asty.