5-year clinical and radiostereometric analysis (RSA) follow-up of 39 CUT femoral neck total hip prostheses in young osteoarthritis patients

Abstract

Background As the number of young patients receiving total hip arthroplasty increases, bone-saving implantations facilitating possible future revision, such as the CUT femoral neck prosthesis, are gaining importance. There have been few medium-term results reported for this prosthesis, however, and its migration pattern has not been analyzed.

Patients and methods 39 consecutive CUT femoral neck prostheses were implanted in 32 patients, mean age 37 (17–58) years, with symptomatic osteoarthritis and either less than 55 years of age or with an anatomic anomaly preventing implantation of a diaphyseal stem (n = 1). Patients were followed prospectively using routine clinical examination and radiostereometric analysis (RSA) at 6, 12, 26, and 52 weeks postoperatively and annually thereafter. This study evaluated the 5-year follow-up results.

Results The mean Harris hip score increased from 26 (3–51) points preoperatively to 84 (66–98), 86 (55–98), and 87 (47–98) points at 3, 12, and 60 months. 3 stems were revised: 1 after luxation following excessive subsidence due to an undersized component and 2 due to persistent strong thigh pain. 5-year survival was 95% (95% CI: 87–100). Initial migration varied widely in magnitude; median total tip migration was 0.42 mm (0.09–9.4) at 6 weeks, 0.92 mm (0.18–5.9) at 1 year, and 1.10 mm (0.13–6.4) at 5 years. Even after high initial migration, stabilization was achieved in 31 of the 35 RSA-evaluable implants. 3 prostheses showed progressive continuous migration throughout the entire follow-up period, and were considered to be loose, suggesting reduced long-term survival.

Interpretation Currently, we cannot recommend the CUT femoral neck prosthesis as a routine treatment option in (young) patients requiring THA. The CUT prosthesis may not reach the 90% survival benchmark at 10 years, and the prosthesis is difficult to implant. If initial stabilization is achieved, however, aseptic loosening is unlikely. A good clinical outcome was seen in the surviving prostheses. We will continue to follow this patient group.

All authors participated in the conception and design of the study and in the writing and editing of the manuscript. The first author was responsible for the statistics and RSA.

We thank Dr H. J. Oostenbroek, who performed 14 procedures, and the residents of the Department of Orthopedics for their help in running the RSA clinic over the years.

The research leading to these results was funded by the European Information and Communication Technologies Community Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement number 248693.

No competing interests declared.