The fate of revised uncemented acetabular components in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

The results of patients with rheumatoid arthritis who had revision hip arthroplasty have been studied infrequently. The purpose of this study was to review the authors' clinical and radiographic experiences and outcomes with revision hip arthroplasty. Revision total hip arthroplasties were done on 28 patients (30 hips). All hips had morselized bone grafting and four hips had bulk allografts for segmental defects. The mean age of the patients at the time of surgery was 50 years (range, 20-74 years). Patients were followed up for 4 to 15 years (mean, 7 years). At the latest followup, 14 hips (13 patients) of the 30 hips (47%) had good and excellent Harris hip score ratings. Mechanical failures included six hips (five patients) that had revision arthroplasty and two hips (two patients) that had resection arthroplasty. Six other hips (five patients) had poor Harris hip score ratings. The Kaplan-Meier survivorship curve for failure of the acetabular component revealed an 89% chance of survivorship curve for failure of the acetabular component revealed an 89% chance of survival at 60 months and a 44% chance of survival at 108 months. Based on the results of this study, revision hip arthroplasty for acetabular loosening with a cementless acetabular prosthesis has a low rate of success in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.