Abstract
Wear debris of polyethylene, polymethylmethacrylate, and metal have been recognized to be associated with foreign body reactions, osteolysis, and aseptic prosthetic loosening after joint replacement arthroplasty. Further, foreign body reaction due to the presence of extensive wear debris can cause aggressive granulomatous lesions and pathologic fracture. To our knowledge, there has been no previous report of pathologic fracture of the femur due to an agressive pseudotumor. This report describes a case of pathologic supracondylar fracture of the femur 6 years and 5 months after cementless total knee replacement arthroplasty. The fracture occurred through an aggressive expanding soft tissue mass that was a tumorlike lesion secondary to polyethylene wear debris. The lesion was associated with massive osteolysis around the femoral component of the total knee prosthesis. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res (Appl Biomater) 43: 473–477, 1998