title: Undetected fracture of an alumina ceramic on ceramic hip prosthesis.
abstract: An unusual case of undetected ceramic fracture was discovered by coincidence during total hip arthroplasty revision for sepsis. To our knowledge, this kind of fracture has never been described before. The cup liner was broken in 2 parts, consisting of a large outer annulus and a smaller round central piece that was detached from the superior and posterior part of the cup, creating a hole in the cup. The analysis of the retrievals suggests that the fracture occurred during walking at the contact point between the head and the cup. The ceramic breakage was asymptomatic with no mechanical disorder, suggesting that some ceramic fracture may be tolerated in vivo. However, any evidence of a fractured ceramic component should cause the surgeon to strongly consider revision.
authors: Pitié Salpétrière Hospital, Paris, France.
authors: Elhadi
authors: E
authors: Sariali
authors: Todd
authors: T
authors: Stewart
authors: Patrick
authors: P
authors: Mamoudy
authors: Zhongmin
authors: Z
authors: Jin
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Fisher
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000537:Aluminum Oxide; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000295:instrumentation; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002516:Ceramics; D006622:Hip Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015207:Osteoarthritis, Hip / Q000601:surgery*; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D012086:Reoperation
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D000537:Aluminum Oxide