Survivorship of a Charnley total hip arthroplasty. A concise follow-up, at a minimum of thirty-five years, of previous reports

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to update the results, at a minimum of thirty-five years, in a single-surgeon series of primary Charnley total hip arthroplasties performed with cement. Twelve patients (fifteen hips) were alive, 249 patients (314 hips) had died, and one patient (one hip) had been lost to follow-up. Seven of the hips in the living patients had required at least one revision; 290 (88%) of the original group of total hip prostheses either continued to function or were in patients who had died. Since the time of a thirty-year study of this cohort, one hip that had previously been revised because of acetabular loosening required an additional revision because of acetabular loosening and two additional hips had evidence of radiographic loosening (of one acetabular and one femoral component). The survival rate with revision for any reason as the end point was 78%. This end result study should provide a benchmark for subsequent procedures and designs with the caveat that patient life expectancy will likely continue to increase and modern-design implants are being used in younger patients.