Background: An allergic reaction may rarely cause a painful or stiff total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, no consensus diagnostic criteria for TKA immune failure exist. Lymphocyte transformation testing (LTT) measures immune sensitivity to various materials, but its role in diagnosing an allergic reaction to a TKA has not been established. This study compares TKA periprosthetic tissues in a) LTT-positive versus -negative patients and b) patients with conventional CoCrNi versus hypoallergenic implants.
Methods: Periprosthetic tissues from 26 revision cases of well-fixed, aseptic, but painful or stiff TKAs were analyzed. Twelve patients LTT positive for nickel (Ni) were matched as a cohort to 6 LTT-negative patients. In 4 patients LTT positive for Ni, tissue from first revision of CoCrNi implants was compared with tissue from subsequent revision of hypoallergenic implants. Histology was evaluated using the aseptic lymphocyte-dominated vasculitis-associated lesion (ALVAL) score.
Results: No correlation was found between LTT and any ALVAL score component. The mean total ALVAL score was 3.8 ± 1.5 for LTT-negative patients and 3.3 ± 1.2 for LTT-positive patients (P = .44). The mean total ALVAL score at revision of CoCrNi implants was 3.0 ± 1.8 compared with 5.8 ± 0.5 at rerevision of hypoallergenic implants (P = .053).
Conclusion: Periprosthetic TKA tissue reactions were indistinguishable between LTT-positive and -negative patients. LTT does not predict the periprosthetic tissue response. ALVAL scores of hypoallergenic revision implant tissue trended higher than primary CoCrNi implant tissue. A positive LTT may not indicate that a periprosthetic immune reaction is the cause of pain and stiffness after TKA.
Level of evidence: 3, retrospective cohort study.
Keywords: ALVAL; LTT; hypersensitivity; lymphocyte transformation test; total knee arthroplasty.
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