Between July 1970 and April 1972, 326 total hip replacements in 256 patients were performed by the author at Iowa Methodist Hospital, Des Moines, Iowa. Forty total hip replacements done prior to July 1970 at University Hospitals in Iowa City are excluded because of inconsistent recent personal follow-up. The great majority of patients had a diagnosis of primary degenerative arthritis (Table 1). Twenty-two per cent of the patients had had previous hip surgery with unsatisfactory results. Most of these were cither cup arthroplasties or femoral head prostheses. The age of the patients is outlined in Table 2. Fifty-three per cent of the patients were women and 47 per cent were men. The right and left hips were equally involved. Forty-three per cent of the patients were housewives, 23 percent were retired, 15 per cent worked at a desk or light labor, 9 per cent were farmers and 11 per cent did other forms of heavy labor.