Asymptomatic Pseudotumors in Patients with Taper Corrosion of a Dual-Taper Modular Femoral Stem: MARS-MRI and Metal Ion Study

Conclusions:
The prevalence of asymptomatic taper-corrosion-related pseudotumors on MARS-MRI in this study demonstrated that the absence of symptoms does not exclude the presence of adverse local tissue reactions. Elevated cobalt levels and cobalt/chromium ratios were associated with the presence of pseudotumors in asymptomatic and symptomatic patients. Cross-sectional imaging such as MARS-MRI is indicated for patients with elevated metal-ion levels. A longitudinal study is required to determine whether asymptomatic patients with taper-corrosion-related pseudotumors will develop symptoms with time.

Level of Evidence:
Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Source: JBJS - October 18, 2016 Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Kwon, Y.-M., Khormaee, S., Liow, M. H. L., Tsai, T.-Y., Freiberg, A. A., Rubash, H. E. Tags: Hip Scientific Articles Source Type: research