Women More Sensitized than Men to Metal in Hip Replacement Medical Study
Recent studies indicate that females demonstrate an increased risk of experiencing adverse local tissue reactions, aseptic loosening, and revision after primary metal-on-metal hip resurfacing arthroplasty compared with males; the underlying biological mechanisms responsible for sex discrepancies in implant failure remain unclear. In addition to anatomical and biomechanical sex differences, there may be inherent immunological disparities that predispose females to more aggressive adaptive immune reactivity to implant debris, i.e., metal sensitivity…
…The findings support the possibility that the higher rate of complications after TJA in women may have an “adaptive immunological basis.” But it is still unclear whether the sex-related difference in immune sensitization is related to intrinsic biologic factors, such as hormones, or to environmental factors, such as exposure to metals in jewelry or cosmetics.