Dear Friends,
My wife will undergo a Prodisc ADR in 2 weeks (Oct 9, 2006) ... but we still havent answered the basic questions of risk vs. reward. In particular, we dont know how long it will likely survive for a 50kg, 32yo woman. Some say 10 years. Others say 30. Evidence points towards 40. My guess is that it will not wear out for her ... unless it self-destructs.
If you have knowledge regarding the longevity of the Prodisc, please post it here. In particular, we are interested in the papers from SAS6 Montreal.
Kinematic results after ProDisc-C total disc replacement
Retrieval and wear analyses of ProDisc(r) lumbar disc implants
Rim fracture risk of highly crosslinked polyethylene total disc replacements
Some stuff I've found or heard:
http://www.worldspine.org/wsIII/ws3_193.pdf loss: 1.4mg/10M cycles. "linear
wear rate of 0.10-0.12 mm/million cycles"
Also, I have heard from Prospine: I talked with Dr. Bertagnoli about it yesterday and he told me that the expected life-time of a ProDisc implant is thirty years.
My Prodisc collection:
http://www.geocities.com/javanoginn/Prodisc/Prodisc.htm
Other Spine Conferences:
http://www.spine.org/calendar/nass_future_events.cfm
Thanks,
Matt