Long-term survivorship analysis of cemented total hip replacement (THR) after avascular necrosis of the femoral head in renal transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND: We studied the long-term survival and the rate of revision of 93 consecutive total hip replacements (THRs) performed for avascular necrosis of the femoral head after renal transplantation from 1971 to 1988. Seventy-four were primary procedures while 19 hips had undergone previous surgery procedures on the same hip in the form of other conservative options. METHODS: The patients of mean age of 38 years were analysed by the Kaplan-Meier method with revision for any reason as the end-point. The follow-up period averaged 216 months (range 1-332). RESULTS: Thirteen hips were revised while 26 patients (36 hips) died during the follow-up period. The cumulative survival of the implant was 98.8% at 10 years and 63.8% at 20 years. CONCLUSIONS: Cemented THR performed after renal transplantation is satisfactory and, at least for the first 10 post-operative years, the results are equivalent to those obtained in the general population with primary osteoarthritis.