Becker's Spine Review

7 SPINE Sports medicine pioneer Dr. Joseph Torg dies at 88 By Carly Behm Orthopedic surgeon Joseph Torg, MD, died Dec. 15 at the age of 88, e Philadelphia Inquirer reported Dec. 30. Dr. Torg died following a chronic illness, the report said. He was a team physician for the Philadelphia Flyers, Sixers and Eagles and was known as a "father of sports medicine." His career focused on impriving athlete safety. He co-founded the Temple University Center for Sports Medicine and Science in and established one of the first sports medicine fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania, both in Philadelphia. Dr. Torg's research led high school and college football groups to ban "spearing," and the number of student players who suffered paralysis dropped. Dr. Torg also popularized the Lachman test for evaluating ACL injuries. "I give tremendous thanks to him for establishing a field," Michael Ciccotti, MD, sports medicine director at Philadelphia-based Rothman Orthopaedic Institute said in the report. "He absolutely le his fingerprint on the field of sports medicine." Along with his medical work in sports, Dr. Torg testified in support of including girls in Little League. Dr. Torg is survived by his wife, three children and seven grandchildren. In 2018, Dr. Torg and his wife, Barbara, established a scholarship for medical students at Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine. n Dr. Nicholas Theodore joins Harvard MedTech medical advisory board By Carly Behm Neurosurgeon Nicholas Theodore, MD, joined the medical advisory board for Harvard MedTech. Dr. Theodore has more than 20 patents for medical devices and procedures, according to a Jan. 10 news release from Harvard MedTech. He is a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and he is co-director of the university's Carnegie Center for Surgical Innovation. Before joining Johns Hopkins, Dr. Theodore was chief of spine surgery and director of the spine fellowship at Phoenix-based Barrow Neurological Institute. He wrote or co-authored more than 340 peer-reviewed articles. At Harvard MedTech he will help with the adoption of Vx Therapy, a platform designed to reduce pain, anxiety, depression level and dependence on pain medications. "I joined Harvard MedTech's Medical Advisory Board because I believe there is great promise in Vx®Therapy's approach for harnessing the power of the brain to help heal physical injuries," Dr. Theodore said in the release. "Current research is already validating Vx Therapy as a more cost-efficient treatment, and the nature of its delivery, which is in the home, makes it accessible to anyone, anywhere." n Dr. Ibrahim Hussain debuts 3D-guided spinal fusion in New York City By Claire Wallace I brahim Hussain, MD, a neurosurgeon at NewYork- Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medicine, has performed the first 3D navigation-guided endoscopic lumbar fusion in New York City. Dr. Hussain is also one of few surgeons in the country that performs the procedure. The guided procedure requires a smaller incision than traditional transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) surgeries, resulting in less blood loss and less patient muscle dissection. Smaller incisions also allow for quicker recoveries with less pain, a shorter amount of time under sedation and a safer and more effective procedure for patients of all ages. "This is a landmark in spine surgery and shows once again how Weill Cornell Medicine and the NewYork- Presbyterian Och Spine program are leading the way in innovative surgical techniques," Roger Hartl, MD, chief of spine surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine and co-director of NewYork-Presbyterian Och Spine, said in a Jan. 30 press release. "We are already leaders in MIS and navigation, and this is another step forward in making complex surgery even less invasive and safer for our patients." n

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