Wear, wear-associated osteolysis, and instability are the most common reasons for revision total hip arthroplasty. These failures have been shown to be associated with acetabular component malpositioning. However, optimal acetabular component orientation on a patient-specific basis is currently unknown. The current study uses CT to assess acetabular orientation in a group of unstable hips as compared to a control group of stable hips. Our institutional database of CT studies performed in the region of the hip beginning in February of 1998 (41,975 CT studies) was compared against our institutional database of revision total hip arthroplasties beginning in August of 2003 (2262 Revision THA) to identify CT studies of any hip treated for recurrent instability by revision of the acetabular component. Twenty hips in 20 patients with suitable CT studies were identified for the study group. Our control group consisted of 99 hips in 93 patients who had CT studies either for computer-assisted surgery on the contralateral side or for assessment of osteolysis. Using the CT data, the AP plane (APP) was defined, supine pelvic tilt was measured, and cup orientation was calculated by fitting a best fit plane to 6 points on the rim of the acetabular component. Cup orientation was calculated in degrees of operative anteversion and operative inclination according to the definitions of Murray. Both absolute cup position relative to the APP and tilt-adjusted cup position1 were calculated.Introduction:
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