title: Severe polyethylene wear in uncemented acetabular cup system components: a report of 5 cases.
abstract: We report 5 cases of severe failure of the polyethylene liner at 4 to 7.4 years after uncemented anatomic medullary locking (AML) total hip arthroplasty, using the acetabular cup system (ACS). The mode of failure was by a combination of wear-through to the metal backing and liner fracture. Four of the 5 cases were associated with a 32-mm head. The ACS design is flawed because of a lack of hemispherical geometry resulting in rim loading on a region of the liner that has the thinnest polyethylene. All patients with this type of implant should be monitored for evidence of excessive polyethylene wear.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, London, England.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Radford
mesh_terms: D000077:Acetabulum; D005260:Female; D006622:Hip Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011095:Polyethylenes; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D011475:Prosthesis Failure
chemical_list: D011095:Polyethylenes