Analysis of bone formation on porous and calcium phosphate-coated acetabular cups: a randomised clinical [18F]fluoride PET study.

We present a study using Fluoride-Positron Emission Tomography (F-PET/CT) to analyse new bone formation in periacetabular bone adjacent to press fit cups following THA. In 16 THA (8 patients) with bilateral hip osteoarthritis simultaneous bilateral total hip arthroplasty (THA) was performed, employing electrochemically applied calcium phosphate coated (HA) cups or porous-coated (PC) cups allocated at random to compare the two sides. A reference group of 13 individuals with a normal healthy hip was used to determine 'normal' bone metabolism. [18F]fluoride -PET/CT was used to analyze bone formation adjacent to the cups 1 week, 4 months and 12 months after surgery. Clinical and radiographic evaluation was performed preoperatively, postoperatively and at 2 years. Bone forming activity had a mean of 5.71, 4.69 and 3.47 SUV around the HA- and 5.04, 4.80 and 3.50 SUV around the PC-cups at 1 week, 4 months and 12 months respectively. Normal bone metabolism was 3.68 SUV. After 1 year activity had declined to normal levels for both groups. The clinical results were good in all cases. HA coating resulted in higher uptake indicating higher bone forming activity after 1 week. F-PET/CT is a valuable tool to analyse bone formation and secondary stabilisation of an acetabular cup.