title: Causes of death after hip arthroplasty in primary arthrosis.
abstract: The causes of death in 1,018 patients operated on for primary osteoarthrosis with cemented total hip arthroplasty (THA) were compared with those of age- and sex-matched orthopaedic control patients and those of the general population in Finland. The mean follow-up period was 12 years for the THA patients and 11 years for the control patients. During the first 4 years after surgery, the mortality of the THA patients from circulatory diseases was significantly increased compared with that of the orthopaedic control patients; the number of deaths in patients with THA was 34 compared with 17 for orthopaedic control patients, the relative risk being 2.00 (95% confidence interval, 1.13-3.54). During the 10-year period after the surgery, the relative risk of death of the THA patients compared with the orthopaedic control patients was 1.50 for death from circulatory diseases (95% confidence intervals, 1.11-2.00), 0.42 for accidental death (95% confidence interval, 0.55-1.08), 0.74 for death from cancer, and 0.77 for death from other causes. The observed numbers of deaths from circulatory diseases or by accidents for patients with THA during a postoperative time frame of 5 to 23 years did not differ from the numbers expected for an age- and sex-matched subgroup of the Finnish population. The number of deaths from cancer was less than expected (P = .046).
authors.affiliation: Central Military Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Visuri
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pulkkinen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Paavolainen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koskenvuo
authors.forename: K B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Turula
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents / Q000401:mortality; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006622:Hip Prosthesis / Q000379:methods / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate