Metallosis Linked to DePuy ASR

  Medical regulators have recently begun to investigate the DePuy ASR hip replacement system and its unique metal-on-metal (MoM) design due to several reports.The biggest concern of these medical regulators is that, as the hip replacement wear down, metal particles may be released from the artificial hip and interact with the soft tissue such as muscle and ligaments surrounding the joint and enter the bloodstream. This reaction by the metal particles would then cause a rare blood disease called Metallosis.

The more common symptoms of Metallosis are inflammation, infection, immobility, joint stiffness, lack of range of motion, tinnitus, vertigo, blindness, deafness, peripheral neuropathy, headaches, optic nerve atrophy, convulsions, cardiomyopathy, hypothyroidism, osteolysis, pseudotumors, skin rash, necrosis, and even loosening of a metal orthopedic implant. In many cases specialized blood tests are needed to detect the metal levels with patients experiencing these symptoms. In some cases, patients with DePuy implants have been found with 100 times the normal levels chromium and cobalt in their bodies. High amount of cobalt in the body, commonly known as cobaltism, can actually cause harm to the body’s organs. 

Usually Metallosis is a rare blood condition restricted those who have replacements for their joints, hip replacement patients have been found to the most prone. Several reports have shown that the DePuy ASR is more prone to cause debris problems.Unfortunately for those patients who have begun to suffer from Metallosis the only cure is revision surgery.This means that the hip replacement would have to be changed or removed altogether. Thus of course causing more pain and more rehab time. 

Reports of Metallosis caused by the DePuy ASR hip replacement have caused several more lawsuits to be filed against DePuy. Records show that the first of these lawsuits in the United States alone was filed in March 2009, a mere 18 months after the DePuy ASR was recalled. Also the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received over 500 complaints about the DePuy ASR and the metal-on-metal wear down before March 2009. 

URL References: 

drugsideeffects-info.com/drug-side-effects/musculoskeletal/metallosis/