[Follow-up radiological analysis of hip arthroplasty]

A total hip arthroplasty may be damaged for multiple reasons. The deteriorations are not always detectable by clinical follow-up. The radiological analysis of prosthetic implants therefore appears to be the best index of the component's behaviour. The computerised methods allow to measure prosthesis migration values that were not detectable in the simple X-rays examination and provide information on the quality of the interfaces. The Software reveals early signs of the component's wear and migration which can have a predictive value relative to the long-term results of arthroplasties. They inform us about the stability of prosthetic components. There effectively seems to be a relation between the early migration of an implant and the risk of aseptic loosening in the long-term period; a precise study of the implant's migration during the first two years after implantation aims at obtaining earlier information which, without these techniques, can only be obtained after long-term clinical and radiological follow-up. These methods allows quicker selection of successful implants after a relatively short-term period. In the long-term, they contribute to improve the implant conception.