A 65-Year Follow-up of a Judet Prosthesis

: The Judet polymethylmethacrylate hip hemiarthroplasty can be considered a major step in the development of the current total hip replacement. It was designed by the Judet brothers and first implanted in 1946. Although initial results were encouraging, the procedure was abandoned years later because of breakages and wear of the acrylic material. The authors present the case of an 85-year-old man in whom a Judet prosthesis was implanted 65 years ago after a traumatic injury of the left hip. He continued to work for 35 years after the arthroplasty and remained free of pain for an additional 5 years. The pain gradually intensified along with shortening of the left leg. The stem was removed in 2010 because it was protruding from the lateral aspect of the thigh, but no revision of the arthroplasty was performed because of the complexity of the surgery and the patient's age. At 65 years after the arthroplasty, the patient walked with a severe limp aided by 2 crutches and had a Harris Hip score of 30 points. Despite the eventual poor clinical outcome and the marked synovitis and bone loss present in the left hip, the authors believe this case deserves to be highlighted because of its longevity. This is the longest follow-up of a Judet prosthesis in the literature. To the authors' knowledge, just one other case of hip arthroplasty with such long follow-up has been reported. [Orthopedics. 2019; 42(3):e336-e338.].