UK study highlights heart disease risk from older types of hip replacement

An X-ray of a hip replacement. Researchers have found that a ‘very small percentage of people’ could be at risk. Photograph: Darren Greenwood/Design Pics I

Patients who have had older types of hip replacement may be at greater risk of heart damage than previously thought, researchers have said, because of cobalt leaching out of so-called metal-on-metal implants.

Tens of thousands of UK patients were fitted with these devices during the 2000s, when they were marketed as a solution for young, active patients who needed a hip replacement that would last a lifetime.