Outcomes of cementless primary THA for osteonecrosis in HIV-infected patients

Symptomatic osteonecrosis of the joint is a frequent debilitating complication in patients who have been infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In earlier reports, outcomes of primary total joint arthroplasty in such patients have been poor due to early failures, high infection rates, and increased complication rates. We report on the clinical and radiographic outcomes of primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) in nonhemophilic, HIV-infected patients as compared with the outcomes in a cohort of osteonecrosis patients who did not have this disease.

Thirty-four HIV-infected patients (forty-four hips) who underwent primary THA for the treatment of osteonecrosis during the period of 2001 through 2008 were compared with a control cohort of seventy patients (seventy-eight hips) who also underwent THA for the treatment of osteonecrosis but did not have HIV or other high-risk factors for revision. The patients in the HIV study group (eleven women and twenty-three men) had a mean age of forty-eight years (range, thirty-four to eighty years) and were followed for a mean of seven years (range, four to eleven years). Evaluated outcomes included implant survivorship, Harris hip score, infection rate, activity score, postoperative Short-Form 36 (SF-36) health survey score, and radiographic outcome.

Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated no significant difference in aseptic implant survivorship between the HIV and comparison cohorts at the five-year (100% vs. 98%, respectively) and ten-year (95% vs. 96.5%, respectively) follow-up times. In addition, at the time of final follow-up, the mean postoperative Harris hip scores (85 points in the HIV group vs. 87 points in the comparison group), activity scores (5.7 points in the HIV group vs. 6.1 points in the comparison group), and SF-36 physical (43 points in the HIV group versus 46 points in the comparison group) and mental component summary scores (54 points in the HIV group versus 57 points in the comparison group) were statistically similar between the two cohorts. There were two late infections in the HIV cohort as compared with none in the comparison cohort.

Our results demonstrated excellent implant survivorship, clinical and radiographic outcomes, and minimal complications at the time of midterm follow-up in the HIV-infected patient group. We believe that the outcomes associated with primary THA are improving in this patient population as a result of better medical management; however, late infections are potential complications.