Weber rotation total hip replacement: a prospective 5- to 20-year followup study

Between 1974 and 1989, 315 primary total hip replacements (274 patients) were done using the cemented Weber Rotation prosthesis and standardized operative technique, which was modified for the stem in 1978. After the first postoperative year, all patients had routine clinical and radiologic examinations at 2-year intervals. Twenty-one patients (22 hips) were lost to followup. At the most recent followup, 30 of 293 hips (253 patients) had been revised: 24 hips for aseptic loosening, five hips for infection, and one hip for a femoral fracture. Survivorship analyses with revision for aseptic loosening as an end point for the 315 hips showed 93% and 78% survival after 10 and 15 years, respectively. Separate survival analyses for the socket showed 99% and 89% survival after 10 and 15 years, respectively. The stem had a survival of 94% and 81%, respectively, during the same time. Survival at 15 years with radiologic evidence of loosening as an end point was 85% for the socket and 72% for the stem. The cementing technique and the design of the acetabular component significantly influenced the rate of loosening. Survivorship analyses with revision for aseptic loosening of the socket, using a modified second generation cementing technique and a hemispheric socket, showed 100% survival after 10 years and 98% after 13 years.