This study evaluates forty-four consecutive autopsy specimens of the senior author’s own patients in attempt to locate and measure periacetabular bone defects and correlate this information with their communication pathways with the joint space.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate autopsy retrieved hemipelves of previously well-functioning total hip arthroplasties (THAs) with computed tomography (CT) to better understand patterns of osteolysis around modular uncemented acetabular components.

Forty-four hemipelves containing titanium porous-coated modular acetabular components were retrieved at autopsy, imaged with CT, and analyzed to determine the location and volume of osteolytic lesions. The mean age of the patients at the time of surgery was seventy years. The mean time in situ for the implants was eight years.

A total of forty-six osteolytic lesions were identified in twenty-eight of the forty-four cases (64%). Thirty-one of forty-six lesions (67%) had one or more apparent communications with the joint space. We identified four types of communication pathways between osteolytic lesions and the joint space: around the rim, through a central dome hole, in association with a screw or screw hole, or around a non-ingrown interface. The mean volume of lesions that had a clear communication pathway was significantly larger than those lesions that did not have a clear communication pathway (p=0.012). Thirteen of the fifteen lesions that did not have a clear communication with the joint space represented bone defects that had existed prior to total hip arthroplasty.

Osteolysis was commonly observed at early time intervals around modular uncemented acetabular components. The communication with the joint space is important for developing osteolysis, as well as in the detection of true osteolytic lesions.