Knee arthroplasty in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

MacIntosh metallic tibial plateau prostheses have been used in the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre since 1966 in the knees of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, following the description of the use of these prostheses for the relief of pain and the correction of deformity by MacIntosh (1966). Since that time thfre have been several reports of the use of these prostheses in both rheumatoid and osteoarthrotic knees (Potter, 1969; MCCollum, Goldner, and Lang, 1970; Clary and Couk, 1972; Jessop and Moore, 1972; Kay and Martins, 1972; MacIntosh and Hunter, 1972; Potter, Weinfeld, and Thomas, 1972). In view of the different indications for and the results of the operation described by these various authors, it seemed valuable to undertake an independent review of the patients treated in this hospital, and to use the results to try and determine the factors which affect the outcome ofthe procedure, and thereby to define our own indications for the operation.