William J. Maloney

The initiation of failure in cemented femoral components of hip arthroplasties

We studied 16 femora retrieved at post-mortem from symptomless patients who had a satisfactory cemented total hip arthroplasty from two weeks to 17 years earlier, with the aim of delineating the initial mechanisms involved in loosening. Only one specimen showed radiographic evidence of loosening; the other 15 were stable to mechanical testing at 17.0 Nm of torque. In all 16 specimens, the cement-bone interface was intact with little fibrous tissue formation. By contrast, separation at the cement-prosthesis interface and fractures in the cement mantle were frequent. The most common early feature was debonding of the cement from the metal, seen at the proximal and distal ends of the prosthesis. Specimens which had been in place for longer also showed circumferential fractures in the cement, near the cement-metal interface, and radial fractures extending from this interface into the cement and sometimes to the bony interface. The most extensive cement fractures appeared to have started at or near sharp corners in the metal, or where the cement mantle was thin or incomplete. Fractures were also related to voids in the cement. The time relationship in this series suggested that long-term failure of the fixation of cemented femoral components was primarily mechanical, starting with debonding at the interface between the cement and the prosthesis, and continuing as slowly developing fractures in the cement mantle.

Receptor Activator of NF-κB and Osteoprotegerin Expression by Human Microvascular Endothelial Cells, Regulation by Inflammatory Cytokines, and Role in Human Osteoclastogenesis

The receptor activator of NF-κB (RANKL) is the essential signal required for full osteoclast (OC) development, activation, and survival. RANKL is highly expressed in areas of trabecular bone remodeling and inflammatory bone loss, is increased on marrow stromal cells or osteoblasts by osteotropic hormones or cytokines, and is neutralized by osteoprotegerin (OPG), a soluble decoy receptor also crucial for preventing arterial calcification. Vascular endothelial cells (VEC) are critically involved in bone development and remodeling and influence OC recruitment, formation, and activity. Although OCs develop and function in close association with bone VEC and sinusoids, signals mediating their interactions are not well known. Here, we show for the first time that human microvascular endothelial cells (HMVEC) express transcripts for both RANKL and OPG; inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1α elevate RANKL and OPG expression 5–40-fold in HMVEC (with an early OPG peak that declines as RANKL rises), and RANKL protein increases on the surface of tumor necrosis factor-α-activated HMVEC. Cytokine-activated HMVEC promoted the formation, fusion, and bone resorption of OCs formed in co-cultures with circulating human monocytic precursors via a RANKL-mediated mechanism fully antagonized by exogenous OPG. Furthermore, paraffin sections of human osteoporotic fractured bone exhibited increased RANKL immunostaining in vivo on VEC located near resorbing OCs in regions undergoing active bone turnover. Therefore, cytokine-activated VEC may contribute to inflammatory-mediated bone loss via regulated production of RANKL and OPG. VEC-derived OPG may also serve as an autocrine signal to inhibit blood vessel calcification.

Human bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells are increased in frequency and myeloid-biased with age

In the human hematopoietic system, aging is associated with decreased bone marrow cellularity, decreased adaptive immune system function, and increased incidence of anemia and other hematological disorders and malignancies. Recent studies in mice suggest that changes within the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) population during aging contribute significantly to the manifestation of these age-associated hematopoietic pathologies. Though the mouse HSC population has been shown to change both quantitatively and functionally with age, changes in the human HSC and progenitor cell populations during aging have been incompletely characterized. To elucidate the properties of an aged human hematopoietic system that may predispose to age-associated hematopoietic dysfunction, we evaluated immunophenotypic HSC and other hematopoietic progenitor populations from healthy, hematologically normal young and elderly human bone marrow samples. We found that aged immunophenotypic human HSC increase in frequency, are less quiescent, and exhibit myeloid-biased differentiation potential compared with young HSC. Gene expression profiling revealed that aged immunophenotypic human HSC transcriptionally up-regulate genes associated with cell cycle, myeloid lineage specification, and myeloid malignancies. These age-associated alterations in the frequency, developmental potential, and gene expression profile of human HSC are similar to those changes observed in mouse HSC, suggesting that hematopoietic aging is an evolutionarily conserved process.

Endosteal erosion in association with stable uncemented femoral components.

Sixteen cases of patients who had focal femoral osteolysis after total hip replacement without cement were identified. Fourteen of them were included in a retrospective review of 474 consecutive total hip replacements without cement in 441 patients who had been followed for at least two years. The criteria for inclusion in the study were focal osteolysis with a femoral component that appeared stable radiographically, and no subsidence or change of position of the implant. All but two patients were men and were quite active. The average age was forty-seven years (range, twenty to sixty-five years). Fourteen of the sixteen patients had an excellent clinical result (a Harris hip score of 90 points or more). In two patients, the hip replacement was revised and, in a third, a biopsy was done. In all three patients, the implant was found to be firmly fixed to the femur. In the two hips that were revised, extensive ingrowth of bone was demonstrated histologically, there was no evidence of infection, and a well defined fibrous membrane was found around the smooth portion of the stem. The histological specimens from these two hips contained focal aggregates of macrophages with particulate polyethylene and metallic debris. In the biopsy material from the hip that was not revised, a fine fibrous membrane lined a cystic cavity. Although the membrane contained an occasional macrophage, no foreign material was identified. Trabecular microfracture and osteoclastic resorption of bone were seen next to the fibrous lining. With one exception, osteolysis was not identified less than two years postoperatively. In most patients, osteolysis appeared after three years. This study showed that femoral osteolysis can occur around uncemented components.

Clinical presentation of patients with tears of the acetabular labrum

BACKGROUND The clinical presentation of a labral tear of the acetabulum may be variable, and the diagnosis is often delayed. We sought to define the clinical characteristics associated with symptomatic acetabular labral tears by reviewing a group of patients who had an arthroscopically confirmed diagnosis. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the records for sixty-six consecutive patients (sixty-six hips) who had a documented labral tear that had been confirmed with hip arthroscopy. We had prospectively recorded demographic factors, symptoms, physical examination findings, previous treatments, functional limitations, the manner of onset, the duration of symptoms until the diagnosis of the labral tear, other diagnoses offered by health-care providers, and other surgical procedures that these patients had undergone. Radiographic abnormalities and magnetic resonance arthrography findings were also recorded. RESULTS The study group included forty-seven female patients (71%) and nineteen male patients (29%) with a mean age of thirty-eight years. The initial presentation was insidious in forty patients, was associated with a low-energy acute injury in twenty, and was associated with major trauma in six. Moderate to severe pain was reported by fifty-seven patients (86%), with groin pain predominating (sixty-one patients; 92%). Sixty patients (91%) had activity-related pain (p < 0.0001), and forty-seven patients (71%) had night pain (p = 0.0006). On examination, twenty-six patients (39%) had a limp, twenty-five (38%) had a positive Trendelenburg sign, and sixty-three (95%) had a positive impingement sign. The mean time from the onset of symptoms to the diagnosis of a labral tear was twenty-one months. A mean of 3.3 health-care providers had been seen by the patients prior to the definitive diagnosis. Surgery on another anatomic site had been recommended for eleven patients (17%), and four had undergone an unsuccessful operative procedure prior to the diagnosis of the labral tear. At an average of 16.4 months after hip arthroscopy, fifty-nine patients (89%) reported clinical improvement in comparison with the preoperative status. CONCLUSIONS The clinical presentation of a patient who has a labral tear may vary, and the correct diagnosis may not be considered initially. In young, active patients with a predominant complaint of groin pain with or without a history of trauma, the diagnosis of a labral tear should be suspected and investigated as radiographs and the history may be nonspecific for this diagnosis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Diagnostic Level IV. See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Isolation and characterization of wear particles generated in patients who have had failure of a hip arthroplasty without cement.

Wear particles from thirty-five membranes obtained during revision hip-replacement operations were studied after digestion of the soft tissue with papain. The particles were isolated and were characterized with use of light and scanning electron microscopic techniques, x-ray microanalysis, and an automated particle analyzer. The mean size of the polyethylene particles was 0.5 micrometer, and the metal particles were a mean of 0.7 micrometer, as determined with scanning electron microscopy. The automated particle analyzer revealed a mean particle diameter of 0.63 micrometer (more than 90 per cent of all particles were less than 0.95 micrometer) and a mean of 1.7 billion particles per gram of tissue, compared with only 143 million per gram of tissue for the control samples. X-ray microanalysis revealed metal debris in sixteen (46 per cent) of the thirty-five membranes after digestion. Thirteen (50 per cent) of the twenty-six membranes surrounding a titanium-alloy stem contained metal particles, compared with three of the nine membranes surrounding a chromium-cobalt stem. Metal debris was present in only one of the twelve membranes surrounding a titanium-alloy stem without a porous coating, compared with twelve of the fourteen membranes surrounding a titanium-alloy stem with a porous coating. This tenfold difference in prevalence was significant (p < 0.005). On the average, the total number of particles (expressed in millions per gram of tissue) associated with the bipolar acetabular components was twice that associated with the fixed acetabular components. In addition, there was a trend toward a larger mean size of the polyethylene particles in association with the bipolar cups. Our data indicate that particulate prosthetic debris in the tissues around failed femoral components that have been inserted without cement constitutes a class of particles that are predominantly less than one micrometer in size and are present in amounts of more than one billion particles per gram of tissue. Routine histological methods did not detect this class of wear debris and led to a gross underestimation of the amount of debris in these membranes.

Histomorphological studies of the long-term skeletal responses to well fixed cemented femoral components.

Thirteen femora that were obtained at autopsy from patients in whom a cemented total hip replacement had been implanted from forty months to 17.5 years earlier were evaluated radiographically and morphologically. All of the patients had been functioning well, and only one of the prostheses showed radiographic evidence of loosening. Serial sections of the proximal portion of the femur that enclosed the femoral component of the prosthesis showed that the host bone was intimately and directly apposed to the cement, and fibrous tissue intervened only rarely. The bone-remodeling processes had created a dense shell of substantial new bone around the cement-mantle that resembled a new cortex, attached to the outer cortex by new trabecular struts. Evidence of ingrowth of bone from this dense shell of bone into the undulating surface of the cement was found in many areas. In the adjacent femoral cortex, there was substantial osteoporosis and cortical thinning. The cement-bone interface was intact and excellent throughout, despite the presence of fractures within the cement-mantle and de-bonding at the cement-prosthesis interface in some specimens. The cemented femoral components were well tolerated by the skeleton over a long period of use, and fibrous tissue had rarely formed at the femoral cement-bone interface of these well fixed and clinically successful prostheses. The cement-mantle was well supported by extensive medullary bone-remodeling and formation of a dense shell of new bone. The internal bone-remodeling helped to maintain the cemented femoral components over time and did not cause loosening of the prosthesis.

Reasons for revision hip surgery : A retrospective review

The purpose of this study was to determine the indications for contemporary revision hip surgery in a consecutive series of patients. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records and radiographs of 439 revision hip surgeries done between 1996 and 2003. Fifty-five percent of the surgeries were for aseptic loosening, 14% were for instability, 13% were for osteolysis around a well-fixed implant, 7% were for infection, 5% were for periprosthetic fracture, 3% were for conversion of a hemiarthroplasty, 1% was for psoas impingement, 1% was for loose recalled implants, and 1% was for implant fracture. As expected, aseptic loosening was the most common reason for revision surgery. Instability was a common reason for early revision whereas revision for osteolysis around a well-fixed implant was a more common reason for late revision.

Magnetic resonance arthrography versus arthroscopy in the evaluation of articular hip pathology

In this study, we compared magnetic resonance arthrography results with hip arthroscopy findings to assess the diagnostic value of this imaging technique in evaluating acetabular labral tears and concurrent articular hip pathology. One hundred one consecutive patients (102 hips) with a clinical diagnosis of acetabular labral tear were assessed using magnetic resonance arthrography and had hip arthroscopy after failing to improve with nonoperative treatment. Magnetic resonance arthrography detected 71 of 93 (76%) acetabular labral tears (92 patients) with five false positive studies in five patients (4.9%). Articular cartilage findings diagnosed by magnetic resonance arthrography were confirmed by arthroscopy in 64 hips in 64 patients (62.7%). With respect to labral pathology, magnetic resonance arthrography showed a sensitivity of 71%, specificity of 44% positive predictive value of 93%, negative predictive value of 13%, and accuracy of 69%. With respect to articular cartilage pathology, magnetic resonance arthrography had a sensitivity of 47%, specificity of 89%, positive predictive value of 84%, negative predictive value of 59%, and accuracy of 67%. Although magnetic resonance arthrography is an excellent positive predictor in diagnosing acetabular labral tears and articular cartilage abnormalities, it has limited sensitivity. A negative imaging study does not exclude important intra-articular pathology that can be identified and treated arthroscopically.

Periprosthetic Osteolysis in Total Hip Arthroplasty: the Role of Particulate Wear Debris

Much of the basic science research regarding total joint arthroplasty currently is focused on the biological mechanisms of osteolysis and aseptic loosening. However, the clinical problem of osteolysis is not new; in fact. osteolysis was one of the first problems associated with hip replacement surgery. Charnley’s experiment with Teflon acetabular components’ resulted in accelerated wear and particle generation: at that time, the destruction of hone associated with this problem was thought to represent culture-negative infection. Harris et al.2’ first described localized bone resorption in the femur in association with loose cemented total hip replacements. In that study. four hips having extensive resorption of bone that appeared radiographically as an infection or tumor were reported. However, the pattern of bone lysis (expansile lytic lesions) was distinctly different from that commonly noted in association with aseptic loosening. which is usually characterized by a linear resorption pattern. Histological analysis demonstrated sheets of macrophages with interspersed giant cells and birefningent material. which could not be identified further at that time. Subsequently, Jasty et al.” and Maloney et al.47 described focal femoral osteolysis in patients who had a stable femoral component that had been inserted with cement (Fig. 1-A). Histological analysis of the soft-tissue membrane revealed findings that were similar to those reported in association with aseptic loosening. The phenomenon of hone loss in association with cemented implants became known as cement disease35. This so-called cement disease was one of the reasons for the development of implants that were designed to he inserted without cement. It is now clear, however. that the term cement disease was a misnomer: osteolysis has been identified with increasing frequency in associ-