Seventy-four Attenborough knee replacements for rheumatoid arthritis. A clinical and radiographic study.

Seventy-four Attenborough total knee replacements in patients with severe classical rheumatoid arthritis were followed for 2-5 years. The preoperative radiograms were evaluated according to two different scoring systems. At follow-up, radiographic whole leg examinations were performed. Mean malalignment was 7 degrees. The overall results were not encouraging with definite failure in eight knees and probable failure in another 21 knees. Failure was significantly correlated with postoperative malalignment.