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Journal of Long-Term Effects of Medical Implants

ISSN for PRINT: 1050-6934

Institutional price:	$1021.00
Issues per year:	6

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

2002, Volume12

106 pages

Issue price - $175.00

A Nationwide Followup Study of Autoimmune and Connective Tissue Disease Among Hip and Knee Implant Patients

Lisa B. Signorello, ScD
International Epidemiology Institute, Rockville, Maryland; Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt—Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, Tennessee

Weimin Ye, MD, MSc
Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt—Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, Tennessee

Jon P. Fryzek, PhD
1International Epidemiology Institute, Rockville, Maryland; 2Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt—Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, Tennessee

William J. Blot, PhD
International Epidemiology Institute, Rockville, Maryland; Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt—Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Loren Lipworth, ScD
International Epidemiology Institute, Rockville, Maryland; Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt—Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, Tennessee

Joseph K. McLaughlin, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine, Vanderbilt Medical School, President, International Epidemiology Institute, 1455 Research Blvd., Suite 550, Rockville, Maryland, 20850-3127, USA

Olof Nyren, MD, PhD
Department of Medical Epidemiology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

ABSTRACT

Because implants can provoke varied immune system responses, we assessed whether hip and knee implant recipients had an increased risk of autoimmune/connective tissue diseases (AI/CTDs). Using national registry data from Sweden, we compared hospitalization rates for AI/CTDs in 101,771 hip and 23,891 knee implant recipients to rates in the general population. Hip patients were followed up to 22 years and knee patients up to 14 years postimplantation. Our findings indicate that it is unlikely that hip or knee implantation results in any increased risk for most AI/CTDs. After long-term followup, the associations we observed with polyarteritis nodosa and fibrositis could be the basis for future investigations.