Emma Lape

NIH Medline Plus discusses the results of the SPARKS trial.

Brigham Health’s Vital Lines recently featured an OAPol model study examining the lower utilization rates of total knee replacement among racial and ethnic minorities.

Publications

• Losina E, Usiskin IM, Smith SR, Sullivan JK, Smith KC, Hunter DJ, Messier SP, Paltiel AD, Katz JN. Cost-effectiveness of generic celecoxib in knee osteoarthritis for average-risk patients: A model-based evaluation. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2018 Feb 23. PMID: 29481917.
• Collins JE. What can our hands tell us about the future of our knees? Arthritis Rheumatol. 2018 Feb 22. PMID: 29471592.
• Losina E, Katz JN. Hydroxychloroquine: another battle lost in the campaign to find effective therapies for hand osteoarthritis. Ann Intern Med. 2018 Feb 20. PMID: 29459984.
• Rajan PV, Qudsi RA, Dyer GSM, Losina E. The cost-effectiveness of surgical fixation of distal radial fractures: a computer model-based evaluation of three operative modalities. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2018 Feb 7;100(3):e13. PMID: 29406347.
• Sorensen G, Sparer E, Williams JAR, Gundersen D, Boden LI, Dennerlein JT, Hashimoto D, Katz JN, McLellan DL, Okechukwu CA, Pronk NP, Revette A, Wagner GR. Measuring best practices for workplace safety, health and wellbeing: the Workplace Integrated Safety and Health Assessment. J Occup Environ Med. 2018 Jan 31. PMID: 29389812.
• Meier M, Webb J, Collins JE, Beckmann J, Fitz W. Do modern total knee replacements improve tibial coverage? Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2018 Jan 25. PMID: 29372284.
• Smith KC, Michl GL, Katz JN, Losina E. Meteorologic and geographic barriers to physical activity in a workplace wellness program.J Phys Act Health. 2018 Feb 1;15(2):108-116. PMID: 28872399.
• KermanHM, Smith SR, Smith KC, Collins JE, Suter LG, Katz JN, Losina E. Disparities in total knee replacement: Population losses in quality-adjusted life years due to differential offer, acceptance, and complication rates for Black Americans. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2018 Jan 24. PMID: 29363280
• Solomon DH, Lu B, Yu Z, Corrigan C, Harrold LR, Smolen JS, Fraenkel L, Katz JN, Losina E. Benefits and sustainability of a learning collaborative for implementation of treat to target in rheumatoid arthritis: results of the TRACTION Trial Phase II. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2018 Jan 5. PMID: 29316341.

News Coverage

Coverage of Kerman et al., “Disparities in total knee replacement: Population losses in quality-adjusted life years due to differential offer, acceptance, and complication rates for Black Americans”:

AAAS EurekAlert

Healio Rheumatology

An OAPol analysis published last month in Arthritis Care & Research examined the loss of quality-adjusted life years among racial minorities due to disparities in total knee replacement utilization. Click here for coverage by Reuters Health.

Dr. Elena Losina was appointed this year as the Robert W. Lovett Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Endowed professorships, the highest honor granted to faculty by HMS, recognize researchers, physicians, and professors making outstanding contributions to their fields.

Robert W. Lovett was a pioneering orthopedist known in particular for his study of polio. Born in 1859, Lovett attended Harvard and subsequently joined the faculty at HMS. In his work on rehabilitation in polio patients, he advanced the use of objective measures of muscle strength. Lovett also authored (with Robert Jones) an early complete textbook of orthopedic surgery. In recognition of this legacy, the Robert W. Lovett fund was established in 1926 to support the study of musculoskeletal disorders and was subsequently converted into an endowed professorship.

A reception honoring Dr. Losina was held in November at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The event highlighted Dr. Losina’s work in musculoskeletal research.

The appointment is described on the HMS Endowed Professors page.

Source: Peltier, Leonard F. “Orthopedics: A History and Iconography.” San Francisco: Norman Publishing. 1993.

Brigham Vital Lines offers news for physicians about research and clinical practice at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Vital Lines recently featured research by Dr. Losina and colleagues at the PIVOT Center. The team found that preoperative opioid use was associated with poor pain outcomes 6 months after total knee replacement (TKR) among 156 TKR recipients. The study was published this spring in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

Click here to read the story and learn more about opioid use in knee osteoarthritis.