SAS6 and Prodisc Device Wear Analysis

[WayDownInCoCrMo]

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