title: Bacterial adherence to different components of total hip prosthesis in patients with prosthetic joint infection.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of our study was to evaluate and quantify the bacterial adherence to the different components of total hip prosthesis.
  
  
  METHODS
  The bacterial load of 80 retrieved hip components from 24 patients was evaluated by counting of colony-forming units (CFU) dislodged from component surfaces using the sonication culture method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Micro-organisms were detected in 68 of 80 explanted components. The highest bacterial load was detected on the polyethylene liners, showing a significant difference in distribution of CFU between the liner and metal components (stem and cup). Staphylococcus epidermidis was identified as the pathogen causing the highest CFU count, especially from the polyethylene liner.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results of our study confirm that sonicate culture of the retrieved liners and heads, which revealed the highest bacterial loads, are reliable and sufficient for pathogen detection in the clinical diagnostic routine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria, richard.lass@meduniwien.ac.at.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lass
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giurea
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kubista
authors.forename: Alexander M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hirschl
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Graninger
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Presterl
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Windhager
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Holinka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D005260:Female; D006622:Hip Prosthesis / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013010:Sonication / Q000379:methods; D013212:Staphylococcus epidermidis / Q000302:isolation & purification