[Experimental study of surgical cement reinforced with wire mesh].

We have used wire mesh in association with PMMA cement in six patients to reinforce a deficient medial acetabular wall. None of these cups show signs of loosening. We therefore investigated experimentally the mechanical characteristics of HDP cups embedded in cement reinforced with wire mesh. The mesh appears to increase the resistance of the cement to tensile stress and associated loading forces at the bone/cement interface by the "stiffening" affect of the metal framework.