HARRIS-GALANTE II HIP ARTHROPLASTY – THE LONGTERM RESULTS

The Harris-Galante II acetabular prosthesis was used in Taranaki from 1992 until 1999. An increasing number of failures were noted due to liner dissociation. This lead us to retrospectively review the 237 patients with the Harris-Galante II acetabular prosthesis inserted for primary arthroplasty to assess true failure rates and mechanism of failure. All of the cases were followed up with clinic interview, home interview, phone interview or review of notes. Harris hip scores were performed and radiographs were taken. Forty-eight failures were found of which 66% were due to liner dissociation. The Kaplan-Meier 10 year estimate of implant survival was 72.9% ± 7.8%. Several methods of revision were performed. Forty per cent of cases managed with polyethylene liner exchange alone required further revision for liner dissociation. The poor survival of the Harris-Galante II cup appeared primarily due to failure of the capture mechanism of the cup. Dislocation and small shell size were both found to be significant independent factors which contributed to the incidence of failure.