Total hip arthroplasty in rheumatoid arthritis. A long-term follow-up study.

This study was undertaken to assess the clinical and radiographic results of total hip arthroplasty in rheumatoid arthritis patients with a minimum of 10 years of follow-up evaluation. Eighty-three hips in 51 of the original 104 patients were available for follow-up study an average of 12.1 years following surgery. The average age of the patients at the time of surgery was 39.9 years (range, 14-72 years). Fourteen hips were revised, 11 for mechanical loosening and 3 for late infection. The overall revision rate is 16.7%; the revision rate for mechanical loosening was 13.3%. According to Merle D'Aubigne-Postel hip rating scores in the 69 hips that did not require revision, 19 hips were excellent (28%), 37 were good (54%), 11 were fair (15%), and 2 were poor (3%). Therefore, 67 of 83 hips (80.7%) were satisfactory on follow-up study. Radiographic evidence of loosening in nonrevised hips was found in 11 acetabular and 2 femoral components.