Cobalt levels in blood

Posted by ralph1 @ralph1, Jan 27, 2022

At what levels is cobalt a concern in your blood

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Bones, Joints & Muscles Support Group.

@171

Both hips have been replaced with metal on metal. I am going to ask for lab work. I had some tests years ago and it was high, but no one knew what to do about it. Is there some treatment available?

Jump to this post

My cobalt value is 128.3 mcg and chromium is 49.5mcg
Both hips hap metal on metal implants

REPLY

I have numbness in my mouth and left hand and have had many heart and tia test which showed normal. I had a revision done on my left hip, metal ball replaced with ceramic

REPLY
@christieclc

I have numbness in my mouth and left hand and have had many heart and tia test which showed normal. I had a revision done on my left hip, metal ball replaced with ceramic

Jump to this post

Hello Christie, Are they planning to replace the other metal-on-metal implant as well?
Did they place a polymer liner in the acetabular cup as well?
How long have you had the metal implants?
I ask because my metal levels did not begin to fall until after both hips were revised. Then the levels fell to normal in under a year, and most of the problems gradually faded.
Sue
Sue

REPLY
@sueinmn

According to the surgeon who did the revision that resulted in dislocation, about 3 times as likely with the original THR. Mine was thought to have been caused by a "perfect storm" - revision, weaker that expected muscles due to tissue degradation from the metal (he had to remove quite a bit) and trying to correct a leg length imbalance caused by the original surgeon, when he did the revision on the first hip.
I have never felt unstable since the dislocation was repaired, over 12 years ago.
Sue

Jump to this post

Hi Sue, I wrote to you last August in regards to my upcoming revision surgery because the cobalt from MoM implants was leaking. Surgery went well. . . . Last Monday 1-29-24, while parked in my car waiting to pick up a student, I reached down to the passenger seat floor to pick up a notebook that had fallen there, and dislocated my hip. It was excruciating. Ambulance took me to ER, where to ER doctor put me under briefly and put the ball back into the socket.

I see my surgeon next week. I am curious as to your dislocation repair. Are you referring to re-placing the ball into the socket, done in the ER right after the dislocation, or something more? Thanks in advance for a response. I am terrified now of another dislocation. (Guess we all go through that fear after experiencing it.)

REPLY

In 2014, I had my left hip replaced with a titanium hip joint. My blood cobalt level is now 4.4. How much can diet affect this level. I assume that I would have to consume a whole lot of vegetables to raise my blood level.

REPLY
@tabbiecat4547

In 2014, I had my left hip replaced with a titanium hip joint. My blood cobalt level is now 4.4. How much can diet affect this level. I assume that I would have to consume a whole lot of vegetables to raise my blood level.

Jump to this post

Welcome to Mayo Connect. If you have read a bit, here and elsewhere, you will have seenthat the major concerns are with metal-on-metal (MoM) hip implants, which were chromium-cobalt balls and acetabular cups (without cross-linked polymer linings) used largely between 2000 & 2010.
You can read about them here:
https://josr-online.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13018-023-03618-7
While there is currently some concern about metal ions from other types of hip implants, levels like yours fall into the range generally considered safe. I believe monitoring is recommended to be sure they are not rising, as this would be evidence of premature metal wear.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7842236/#
Do you know exactly what implant you received, and what is the composition of the femur head and the acetabular lining?
Sue

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.