Edited by
Derek J.W. McMinn

2009

It was 1987, and the orthopedic world was still coming to terms with a steady stream of long term failures of metal on polyethylene total hip arthroplasties. Although Hans Georg Willert had published his theory that polyethylene wear–induced osteolysis was the most likely cause of these failures, the debate was still on—many still believed it to be cement disease, intraarticular pressure, or some other unknown cause.