title: Does the placenta inhibit the passage of chromium and cobalt after metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty?
abstract: Umbilical cord serum and corresponding maternal serum of 3 women with uncemented metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasties were analyzed for cobalt and chromium. The women were an average 3.8 (range, 2-5) years after hip surgery. At the time of delivery, the maternal chromium concentrations were 1.6 microg/l, 0.5 microg/l, and 0.9 microg/l, respectively, and the maternal cobalt concentration was 1 microg/l in the first woman and below the detection limit in the other 2 women. Cobalt and chromium concentrations of the 3 umbilical cord sera also were below the detection limit. This indicates that-with regard to the detection limit of our laboratory-we were unable to observe a passage of cobalt and chromium ions from metal-on-metal articulations across the placenta at the time of delivery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Vienna General Hospital and Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Brodner
authors.forename: Josef Georg
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Grohs
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bancher-Todesca
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dorotka
authors.forename: Vanee
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Meisinger
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gottsauner-Wolf
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kotz
mesh_terms: D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip; D002857:Chromium / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D003035:Cobalt / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006622:Hip Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011474:Prosthesis Design
chemical_list: D002857:Chromium; D003035:Cobalt