Results of low friction arthroplasty in patients thirty years of age or younger.

The results of total hip replacement in 39 patients 30 years old or younger were evaluated including 67 Charnley low-friction arthroplasties and one McKee total hip arthroplasty. The average age was 25.9 years with an average follow-up of 39 months, the longest being 8 years, 3 months. The diagnoses included rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, CDH, Still's disease, and a miscellaneous group. Over-all function did not improve as greatly as in the 9 to 10 year series, but this was due to a higher proportion of patients with severely disabling rheumatoid polyarthritis, hemiplegia, severe obesity, or cardiovascular disease. Wear did not seem to be any greater in this younger age group as compared to previous studies in older patients.