Bone incorporation of frozen femoral head allograft in revision total hip replacement.

Since 1983, 60 patients (60 joints) with acetabular bone loss underwent the total hip reconstruction using frozen femoral head allografts. Every 6 months, antero-posterior view radiographs of bilateral hip joints and sequential 99mTcMDP bone scintigrams were obtained. A CT scan of bilateral hip joints was taken to measure the volume of allograft. Bone incorporation was observed in 52 patients with an average time of 28.2 months. Bone scintigraphy also revealed that the uptake became normal 2-3 years after the revision. Differences in the time necessary for bone incorporation could be attributed to the size of allografts--the larger the volume, the longer the time required (p < 0.01). It was also found that on the side that received a transplant, the allograft was incorporated faster when there was more bone tissue surrounding the missing part of the acetabulum (p < 0.05).