This report contains 15 zimmer femoral stems implanted in patients who had a contemporary metal-on-polyethylene total hip replacement and were / are diagnosed with mechanically assisted crevice corrosion, defined here as having new onset otherwise unexplained pain and elevated serum cobalt levels of 1.6mg/ml or greater.At this time 9/15 (60%) have been revised (component removed), all patients revised had visible corrosion at the head neck junction with soft tissue pathology of varying degrees.In a single surgeon database macc prevalence was 1.1% in a consecutive series of contemporary zimmer non-cemented femoral hip components.Mechanically assisted crevice corrosion (macc) occurs at the metal / metal modular junctions in total hip replacements and can lead to adverse local tissue reaction in patients with metal-on-polyethylene total hip replacement.In summary, a single surgeon evaluated his database and determined a macc prevalence of 1.1% in a consecutive series of contemporary zimmer non-cemented femoral hip components followed for a minimum of 2 years.This clinical complication is worrisome because of both the high volume of hip replacement worldwide and the soft tissue damge that can occur with severe reactions.Also see mw5039866 - mw5039880.
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