Article in NY Times 3/4/2010

[Pat Walter]

The ASR Device for hip resurfacing has also been withdrawn. It was not FDA approved in the US, but used off label by some surgeons.  Again, as you mention, they were implanted by some of the top experinced surgeons in the US.

I posted a statment I received from DePuy about the ASR in this post
http://surfacehippy.info/hiptalk/index.php?topic=1726.0

The same acetabular cup is used for the ASR hip resurfacing device and for the ASR THR on a stem. The problem, as far as I understand from reading reports and not being an experinced surgeon, is that the acetabular cup is too shallow. Therefore, it has a tendency to have wear occuring near the edge.  Again, if the cup was placed at an optimum angle by an experinced hip resurfacing surgeon, there is no excessive wear pattern resulting in high metal ions, dislocations or revisions.

Pat

[Vt waddler]

Pat,  "I don't want people with ASRs laying awake at night worrying"..agree, but I don't believe the "head in the sand" approach is the right direction to go either. Depuys handling of this info sounds suspect to me, jmho
vt waddler

[Bionic]

The irony is, I remember one doctor saying during a chat here that the ASR devices had tighter mating tolerances and consequently produced fewer metal ions than other implant brands.  As always, though, the caveat is, "only if they're installed properly."  And with these smaller devices, surgeon skill becomes even more critical.