title: The radiographic resolution of beads from porous coated joint prostheses.
abstract: While there have been reports of the 750 microns chrome-cobalt beads disassociating from the PCA type prosthesis, failure of the 200 microns bead has not been documented despite reports of failed prosthesis, which use the smaller bead. As a result of the negative reports, the hypothesis was posed as to the limit of resolution in the image of the standard clinical radiographical film. To test the hypothesis, chrome-cobalt beads, ranging in size from 200 to 700 microns, in differing configurations were placed adjacent to a femoral prosthesis that had been implanted into a cadaveric specimen. Using standard clinical radiographic technique, differing exposures were made of the configurations. The results demonstrated that beads or a conglomerate of beads smaller than 300 microns could not be resolved and were therefore invisible and unrecordable. The clinical significance is to question whether all porous-coated prostheses shed metal alloy particles, some of which are radiographically undetectable due to the limitations of their resolvable size.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21239.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Haynes
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Freedman
mesh_terms: D001175:Arthrography / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D002858:Chromium Alloys; D006801:Humans; D007595:Joint Prosthesis; D008863:Microspheres; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D011475:Prosthesis Failure
chemical_list: D002858:Chromium Alloys