Early failure of a locked titanium plate in a proximal humeral fracture: Case report and metallurgic analysis.

Angular stability locking plates are commonly used in proximal humeral fractures, especially in old patients with osteoporotic bones. These implants show good results in short and midterm follow-up, but complications are not uncommon. Here we present a case report to describe a case of early failure of a proximal angular stability plate implanted in a 72 years old female with a highly unstable two part proximal humeral fracture.

Clinical outcomes of ceramicized ball heads in total hip replacement bearings: a literature review.

Background: Metallic ball heads for total hip replacement (THR) bearings with ceramicized surfaces were introduced in orthopedics during the second half of the 1980s, with the aim of decreasing the wear of polyethylene cups.

Methods: An analysis was made of the literature regarding outcomes for metallic ball heads with ceramicized surfaces now in clinical use (TiN, TiNbN, ZrN, monoclinic ZrO2), as well as carbon coatings (pyrolytic carbon, diamond-like carbon) and silicon nitride as coatings in ball heads for THR bearings.

Results: Notwithstanding the diffusion of ceramicized ball heads in THRs, there are few reports about their clinical outcomes in hip arthroplasty.

Lifetime estimation of a zirconia-alumina composite for biomedical applications.

Objectives: In this work long term stability of a zirconia toughened alumina (ZTA) composite was investigated.

Methods: Accelerated aging tests under hydrothermal environment, in autoclave and hot water, at different temperature, was conducted on material sample. Tetragonal to monoclinic transformation was evaluated by XRD analysis and the monoclinic content was plot as a function of the exposure time.