The Journal of Arthroplasty Vol. 11 No. 1 1996 Survivorship Analysis of Cemented Total Condylar Knee Arthroplasty A Long-term Follow-up Report on 348 Cases Adel Nafei, MD, Ole Kristensen, MD, Harald Moustgaard Knudsen, MD, Ivan Hvid, MD, PhD, and Jorn Jensen, MD Abstract: Survivorship analysis was used in the evaluation of 348 consecutive pri- mary total condylar knee arthroplasties (total knee arthroplasties) performed on 253 patients in a 27-month period, with a maximum follow-up period of 12 years. The diagnosis was osteoarthrosis in 184 cases and rheumatoid arthritis in 164 cases. Ten patients (10 total knee arthroplasties) were lost to follow-up evaluation. The endpoint was defined as prosthesis not in situ. The variables considered were age, sex, body 1Tlassindex, and diagnosis. The overall cumulative survival rate was 92%. The survival rate of the osteoarthrosis group was significantly higher (97%) than that of the rheumatoid arthritis group (87%). None of the other variables affected survival rate significantly. Key words: knee arthroplasty, knee prosthesis, long- term results, survivorship analysis, total condylar knee. The prosthesis used in this study is a modification (5 ° posterior slope of the tibial component) of the original Insall-Burstein prosthesis, which is of the semiconstrained, crudate ligamem-sacrificing, ce- mented type without metal backing. Since 1979 the prosthesis has been used in our department when total knee resurfacing arthroplasty was indicated. Several authors have reported long-term survival analysis of total knee arthroplasty with different pros- thetic designs. 14 Few authors have reported long- term survival analysis of this design, and then only as smaller subgroups of larger heterogenous series. 4-6 This study aimed to evaluate the survival rate of a fairly large consecutive series of the above-men- tioned prosthetic design, performed as a primary intervention in a single center, and to evaluate some of the factors that might influence the long- term survival rate of the prostheses. From the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Aarhus University Hospitals, Aarhus, Denmark. Reprint requests: Adel Nafei, MD, Heriuf Trollesgade 7C, st., DK-8200 Aarhus N, Denmark. Materials and Methods During the period October 1979 through Decem- ber 1982, 348 consecutive primary total condylar knee arthroplasties (TKAs) were performed on 253 patients. The diagnosis was osteoarthrosis (OA) in 184 cases and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 164 cases. In the OA group, there were 32 men (36 TICAs) and 115 women (148 TKAs). In the RA group, there were 21 men (33 TICAs) and 85 women (131 TICAs). Median age at surgery was 70 years (quartiles, 64 and 73 years) in the OA group and 61 years (quartiles, 50 and 68 years) in the RA group. Ten patients (10 TICAs) were lost to follow-up evalu- ation (5 TICAs in each group). The indication for knee arthroplasty in our department is chronic joint pain, due to advanced degenerative changes involv- ing more than one joint compartment. The operating theater was equipped with lami- nar airflow. First-generation instrumentation was used for prosthesis implantation. 9 All sizes of the implant were available for utilization in the period in question. We resurfaced the patella in all cases.