Pseudotumor in metal-on-metal hip arthroplasty: a comparison study of three grading systems with MRI

Pseudotumors, a well-known complication of metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty (MoM THA), are well identified on metal artifact-reducing sequences magnetic resonance imaging (MARS-MRI). Several MRI grading systems are described in the orthopedic literature, but their validity is unknown in large clinical studies. Our study was undertaken to describe the classification of pseudotumors in a preselected cohort divided into high- and low-risk patients, using three pseudotumor grading systems applied on MARS-MRI, and to determine the interobserver reliability of the grading systems. A retrospective study was performed on 377 consecutive patients (240 MRI scans) treated with an M2a-38 and Taperloc stem combination (Biomet, Warsaw, IN, USA). Patients were divided into a high-risk and a low-risk group based on previous published risk factors. Two observers determined the presence of pseudotumors using three different pseudotumor grading systems for classifying MARS-MRI results. The prevalence of pseudotumors as determined with MARS-MRI was 59% in our high-risk group, 0% in the low-risk group and 43% in the control group. Serum cobalt values were increased in the high-risk group. The kappa values of the Anderson, Hauptfleisch and Matthies grading system scores were 0.43, 0.44, and 0.49 respectively. High-risk patients are at a high risk for pseudotumor development. No pseudotumor development was found in low-risk patients. Interobserver reliability scored best with the Matthies system, but all three grading systems showed only a moderate agreement.