Rt. Louwerse et Ic. Heyligers, Late failure of the polyethylene liner fixation in an uncemented total hiparthroplasty, J ARTHROPLA, 14(3), 1999, pp. 391-396
We report on the failure of fixation of a polyethylene liner of a Harris/Ga
lante first-generation cementless acetabular component (Zimmer, Warsaw, IN)
. The failure was diagnosed 9 years after implantation. The polyethylene li
ner was partly dissociated in its metal shell, resulting in nearly complete
wearing through of the metal caused by the femoral head. This wearing cont
ributed to severe metallosis and osteolysis around both the femoral and the
acetabular component. The possible failure mechanisms are described, and a
complete review of the literature is given.