Seven Years of Chronological Changes of Serum Chromium Levels After Metasul Metal-On-Metal Total Hip Arthroplasty

• Published in: The Journal of arthroplasty Vol. 25; no. 8; pp. 1196 - 1200
• Main Authors: Maezawa, Katsuhiko, MD, Nozawa, Masahiko, MD, Yuasa, Takahito, MD, Aritomi, Kentaro, MD, Matsuda, Keiji, MD, Shitoto, Katsuo, MD
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.12.2010
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - surgery; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip - instrumentation; Chromium - blood; Chromium Alloys; Female; Femur Head Necrosis - surgery; Follow-Up Studies; Hip Prosthesis; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; longitudinal study; Male; metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty; Metals; Middle Aged; Orthopedics; Osteoarthritis, Hip - surgery; serum chromium level; serum chromium level; metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty; longitudinal study
• ISSN: 0883-5403; 1532-8406
• DOI: 10.1016/j.arth.2009.08.016

Abstract Although many authors have reported the serum concentrations of metal ions in patients who had metal-on-metal coupling prostheses, most of the studies were not longitudinal, and the follow-up periods were short. We evaluated the longitudinal changes of serum chromium levels in 44 patients who had undergone unilateral metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty for a minimum of 7 years postoperatively. Although there was a consistent increase in the mean serum chromium level until 3 years after implantation, there was little difference in the levels from years 3 to 7 postoperatively. Although the serum chromium concentration was low throughout postoperative follow-up for 7 years in about 25% of patients, the serum chromium level stayed high or showed gradual elevation in 16.3% of our patients.