This special supplemental issue of The Journal contains selected papers from the First Annual United States Comprehensive Course on Total Hip Resurfacing Arthroplasty. This was a meeting held at the Westin Annapolis Hotel in Annapolis, Maryland, on November 8th, 9th, and 10th, 2007. It was sponsored by LifeBridge Health as accredited by MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society, as an educational activity in which close to 350 surgeons, allied health professionals, and representatives of all major United States prosthetic companies were present. This was the first interdisciplinary as well as interprosthetic company-sponsored event held in the United States for contemporary hip joint resurfacing.
The goals of the meeting were to identify, outline, and discuss the current state of knowledge in the clinical and basic sciences as they pertain to hip resurfacing technology. The audience included orthopaedic surgeons at all levels of training as well as interested parties from science and industry. The focus was on current principles of patient selection, surgical techniques, and the avoidance of complications, such as femoral neck fractures. Comparisons were made to the current generation of total hip arthroplasty technology. Pertinent basic-science issues were presented and discussed, including blood supply to the femoral head, implant fixation, tribology, retrieval analyses, pathology, metal ion exposure, and other related concerns. Future directions, such as cementless femoral fixation and the evolution of bearing surfaces, were addressed.
A pre-course consisting of five live and three taped surgical demonstrations occurred on November 8. The following day, topics were discussed by more than forty faculty members from a wide range of countries (including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom) as well as more than twenty centers in the United States. Many of these eminent guest speakers contributed further to the success of the course by submitting the manuscripts published in this issue. The course included other educational events, including separate sessions, hosted by various manufacturers, on implant-specific surgical techniques as demonstrated on models as well as cadavers. The creation of a surgeon and patient-directed web site on resurfacing was presented by Clay and Jennifer Primrose. The concept of an international society for hip resurfacing was presented by James Richardson, and such an organization has recently been inaugurated (The International Hip Resurfacing Society, or IHRS).
This supplement encompasses a compilation of twenty peer-reviewed manuscripts selected from more than fifty lectures and presentations of original research at this meeting. The material, which ranged across many different disciplines, dealt with patient selection, indications, tribology, limitations, complications, and future directions. This multidisciplinary approach is reflected in articles that range from basic science to clinical outcomes. This compilation of articles summarizes many of the current principles and the state-of-the-art in hip resurfacing.
We would like to acknowledge certain individuals who were vital to the success of this meeting. Madeline Bacon and Queen Isu worked tirelessly in planning, organizing, and administering this course. Thanks goes to Amanda Chase who helped edit the final program, as well as Joy Marlowe, Joe Michalski, and Alvien Lee, who prepared the audiovisual presentations. We thank Dr. Jerome P. Reichmister, who gave his full support and enthusiasm to introduce the course in representing LifeBridge Health. Thanks also goes to Lorrie Liang for the support we received from the Sinai Hospital. The volunteer staff at the Rubin Institute, including Michael S. McGrath and Lisa Lipton, were impeccable in managing all of the faculty and guest needs for the course, and we also thank Patti O'Brien for her help with this and future meetings.
Specifically with regard to this issue, we would like to thank Drs. John Antoniou, Rudi Bitsch, Christian Heisel, Michael Swank, and Slif Ulrich, all of whom helped us with manuscript reviews. A special thank you goes to Colleen Kazmarek for her assistance with the editing process. We would like to thank James D. Heckman for his encouragement of this project, and we also thank his support staff, including Cathy Griffin, Laurie Lagasse, and Jane Boston, for their attention to the many details of the editorial process. We thank our various sponsors, including Biomet (Warsaw, Indiana), BrainLAB, Inc. (Westchester, Illinois), DePuy (Warsaw, Indiana), Finsbury Orthopaedics (London, United Kingdom), ORTHOsoft (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), Salient Surgical Technologies (Dover, New Hampshire) Smith and Nephew (Memphis, Tennessee), Stryker Orthopaedics (Mahwah, New Jersey), and Wright Medical (Arlington, Tennessee) for their unrestricted educational grants.
For more information as well as information about future resurfacing meetings, please visit the web site at , or contact Madeline Bacon by e-mail (mbacon@lifebridgehealth.org) or telephone (410-601-9798). 