St. Woolson et al., FATIGUE FRACTURE OF A FORGED COBALT-CHROMIUM-MOLYBDENUM FEMORAL COMPONENT INSERTED WITH CEMENT - A REPORT OF 10 CASES, Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume, 79A(12), 1997, pp. 1842-1848
Ten patients who had had a total hip replacement with a forged cobalt-
chrolnium-molybdenum femoral prosthesis (Precoat or Precoat plus) inse
rted with cement were seen with a fatigue fracture of the stem an aver
age of fifty months (range, nineteen to seventy-four months) postopera
tively. The average age of the patients was sixty-one years (range, fo
rty-three to seventy-three years), and the average weight was ninety-s
ix kilograms (range, seventy to 130 kilograms), Eight patients had had
a primary total hip replacement, and two had had a revision; all of t
he acetabular components Bad been inserted without cement. Radiographs
that had been made before the fracture were available for four of the
eight hips that had had a primary replacement: all four had radiograp
hic evidence of debonding of the cement mantle from the proximal end o
f the stem, This probably caused exaggerated cantilever bending stress
es on the proximal aspect of the stem as the distal end of the stem wa
s well fixed. The radiographs of both hips that had had a revision dem
onstrated a non-union of the greater trochanter, which had resulted in
separation at the cement-bone interface at the proximal portion of th
e femur before the fracture, Scanning electron micrographs of five of
the ten fractured prostheses demonstrated a fatigue fracture that bega
n near the anterolateral corner of the prosthesis, through characters
that had been etched on the implant with a laser, Metallurgical analys
is indicated subsurface, voids or inclusions, or both, immediately und
er the region that had been etched, This finding is consistent with th
ermal changes to the microstructure of the alloy that probably caused
a focal reduction in the material strength. A high proportion (seven)
of the ten stems had a poor cement mantle, Also, of the seven small st
eins that were used, six had been implanted in patients who weighed mo
re than eighty kilograms, 60 there was relative undersizing of the pro
stheses. Early debonding of the proximal end of a Precoat femoral pros
thesis from the cement mantle may occur as a result of a thin cement m
antle, lending to loosening and possibly to early fatigue fracture of
the stem if the distal portion of the stem remains solidly fixed in th
e distal portion of the cement column. On the basis of our experience,
Me recommend that patients who have radiographic evidence of a debond
ed Precoat femoral component should be informed of the risk of fatigue
fracture of the stem and be followed closely even though there may be
no symptoms of loosening of the femoral component.