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Case Report: High Chromium and Cobalt Levels in a Pregnant Patient with Bilateral Metal-on-Metal Hip Arthroplasties

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Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research®

An Erratum to this article was published on 14 July 2012

Abstract

Background

Metal-on-metal bearings frequently are used in young patients leading to the concern that disseminated metals such as chromium (Cr) and cobalt (Co) as the main constituents could affect pregnancies.

Case Description

We describe a 41-year-old patient with bilateral metal-on-metal hip arthroplasties, a recurrent pseudotumor, and extremely high blood levels (Cr 39 μg/L, Co 138 μg/L) at 12 gestational weeks. At different gestational weeks, maternal blood, aspirate of the pseudotumor, and amniotic fluid were analyzed for Cr and Co. Therapy with chelating agents was not recommended because the mother showed no symptoms of toxicity and the safety of chelating therapy during pregnancy is not established. At 38 weeks of gestation, a healthy male infant was delivered with elevated Cr and Co cord blood levels. At the age of 8 weeks, the infant’s Cr was comparable to the cord blood level, whereas the Co decreased considerably without treatment. At the age of 14 weeks, the infant’s development was seemingly uneventful and no signs of toxicity were obvious.

Literature Review

Carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic potentials of these metals have been suggested. However, we found no published clinical observations in context with pregnancies of women with hip arthroplasties using metal-on-metal implants. To our knowledge, this is the first report of such high levels of Cr and Co in a human pregnancy.

Purposes and Clinical Relevance

Although we cannot generalize from one case, the seemingly uneventful outcome of this pregnancy may reassure colleagues when counseling patients with high ion levels whether to carry a pregnancy to term.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Ute Schäfer-Graf MD, PhD, and her team (Berlin, Germany) for obtaining blood samples and all the staff of the laboratory of Hans-Jakob Limbach MD, PhD, and colleagues (Heidelberg, Germany) for analytical work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pharmakovigilanz- und Beratungszentrum für Embryonaltoxikologie (Institute for Clinical Teratology and Drug Risk Assessment in Pregnancy), Institut für Klinische Pharmakologie und Toxikologie, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Spandauer Damm 130, Haus 10, D-14050, Berlin, Germany

    Juliane Fritzsche PhD, Cornelia Borisch MD & Christof Schaefer MD, PhD

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  1. Juliane Fritzsche PhD
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  2. Cornelia Borisch MD
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  3. Christof Schaefer MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Cornelia Borisch MD.

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Each author certifies that he or she has no commercial associations (eg, consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangements, etc) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.

All ICMJE Conflict of Interest Forms for authors and Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research editors and board members are on file with the publication and can be viewed on request.

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Fritzsche, J., Borisch, C. & Schaefer, C. Case Report: High Chromium and Cobalt Levels in a Pregnant Patient with Bilateral Metal-on-Metal Hip Arthroplasties. Clin Orthop Relat Res 470, 2325–2331 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-012-2398-0

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