Bone and muscle mass after hip rearthroplasty. Controlled CT study of 12 patients

The cortical bone mineral density (BMD), bone volume, bone mass and muscle volume of the thigh and the cancellous BMD of the distal femur and proximal tibia were quantified by computed tomography (QCT) in 12 patients after hip rearthroplasty due to prosthetic loosening following arthroplasty for arthrosis. Both legs were scanned and the operated side was compared with the healthy side. A control group, 12 patients, had had unilateral hip arthroplasty without subsequent rearthroplasty. There was a 19 percent decrease in bone mass and 13 percent decrease in muscle volume in the middle femur, compared to the contralateral side, in the patients who had undergone rearthroplasty, and a reduction of 9 percent for the same variables in the control group. There was also a more marked osteopenia in the reoperated extremity in the distal femur and proximal tibia compared to the unoperated side.