Cup inclination and serum concentration of cobalt and chromium after metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty

• Published in: The Journal of arthroplasty Vol. 19; no. 8; pp. 66 - 70
• Main Authors: Brodner, Wolfram, Grübl, Alexander, Jankovsky, Rafael, Meisinger, Vanee, Lehr, Stephan, Gottsauner-Wolf, Florian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-12-2004
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip; Chromium - blood; Cobalt - blood; cup inclination; Humans; metal-on-metal; Middle Aged; Prosthesis Design; serum chromium; serum cobalt; total hip arthroplasty; total hip arthroplasty; cup inclination; metal-on-metal; serum chromium; serum cobalt
• ISSN: 0883-5403; 1532-8406
• DOI: 10.1016/j.arth.2004.09.003

We investigated whether cup inclination influences serum levels of cobalt and chromium after metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty. Out of a consecutive series, 3 groups of 20 patients each were established according to their cup inclination: greatest inclination (55°–63°, mean 58°), intermediate inclination (44°–46°, mean 45°), and smallest inclination (23°–37°, mean 33°). We did not detect any statistically significant difference of serum cobalt (
P = .23) or serum chromium (
P = .13) levels between the 3 groups applying the Kruskal Wallis test. However, 3 patients with cup inclinations of 58°, 63°, and 61° exhibited 9.8–53.6-fold elevated cobalt and 9.5–30.5-fold elevated chromium levels when compared with the median concentrations of this trial. We therefore recommend accurate cup placement also for metal-on-metal articulations.