Clinical investigations of tolerance to materials and acrylic cement in patients with hip prostheses.

In forty-two patients with prostheses of the hip followed up after an interval, the authors carried out skin allergy tests against the metals of which the prostheses were composed, and against methacrylate. They found that the tests gave positive results in about 25 per cent of cases. They also investigated whether this finding showed any relationship with loosening or movement of the prostheses. There was no statistically significant relationship, either with loosening or with the passage of time since the operation.