[Geometric total knee arthroplasty--follow-up for an average of six years]

Geometric total knee prosthesis was applied for reconstruction of 70 destructive knee joints in 56 patients from November 1973 through March 1979. The average follow-up period extended to six years and seven months. Eleven patients had died and four could not be located. Eighty-one percent of the remaining arthroplasties disclosed little or no pain at the time of the review. Pain in the patellofemoral joints was an insignificant problem in this series. The absence of radiolucent zone at the tibial cement-bone interface was noted in only 20.4% of the roentgenograms. New formation or progression of radiolucent zone after six months was found in 36.7%. Displacement of the marker wires seen in serial roentgenograms existed in 51.0% of the knees. The tibial component was fractured in one patient.