Evaluation of a highly-radiopaque iodine-containing acrylic bone cement for use in augmentation of vertebral compression fractures

Vertebroplasty and balloon kyphoplasty are widely used for the augmentation of osteoporosis-induced vertebral compression fractures. Almost invariably, an injectable poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) bone cement that contains a large amount of BaSO(4) particles is used in these procedures. The deleterious effects of this radiopacifier on various properties of PMMA cement have been detailed in the literature. The objective of the present study was therefore to avoid such high levels of inorganic contrast agent and thus to develop an all-polymeric bone cement, for which radiopacity was provided by 60 wt % of an iodine-containing methacrylic copolymer, incorporated into the powder (IO cement), ultimately leading to 6.6 wt % of iodine in the cement. A large array of properties of this cement were determined, ranging from setting time and injectability to fatigue life under fully-reversed tension-compression loading and cytotoxicity, and a comprehensive comparison with a cement containing 30 wt % BaSO(4) in the powder component (BA cement) has been made (11 wt % of Ba in the cement). Statistical analyses of the results showed that, for the majority of the properties, the difference between the means for the two cements was not significant. It is therefore suggested that the IO cement is a suitable alternative to the BA cement for use in the aforementioned procedures.