Media Coverage

A new blood test approved by the Food and Drug Administration is being characterized as a way to detect concussion, but commentary by John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and medical director of the UBMD Concussion Management Clinic, said those reports are misleading. “There will probably never be one single biomarker that can reveal if someone has had a concussion,” he said, “but rather a group of biomarkers will be required that have clinically useful appearance times in the circulation and specificity for concussion.”

A feature article focuses on the career of John M. Marzo, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and a former team doctor to the Buffalo Bills and Sabres. “A lot of people would tell me, ‘That must be so cool to be on the sideline of every game,’” he said, “and I would say, ‘You know what, I watch the game differently than you do.’ It’s 30 seconds of holding your breath and then waiting until the next play. You watch and then you look to see, did everybody get up?”

A story about the first FDA-approved blood test to help doctors diagnose traumatic brain injuries interviews John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and medical director of the UBMD Concussion Management Clinic, who said the test doesn’t detect concussions and the approval won’t immediately change how patients are treated. “Everybody is looking for a biomarker for a concussion because it’s a clinical diagnosis, which means sometimes that’s hard to make,” he said. “There is no blood test for concussions. I want to make that clear — this blood test is very specific for brain bleeding.”

An opinion piece submitted by 26 brain injury experts about calls for the elimination of youth tackle football after a study found a link between sub-concussive hits to the head and chronic traumatic encephalopathy suggests that evidence linking youth casual sports play to brain injury, brain injury to CTE and CTE to dementia is not strong, and is signed by John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and rehabilitation sciences, and Barry S. Willer, PhD, professor of psychiatry. “We believe that further scientific research and data are necessary for accurate risk-benefit analysis,” the authors write.

John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and medical director of UB’s Concussion Management Clinic, was interviewed about new data concerning Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). “I get asked about this with my own patients. Their families ask me. And I say you know it’s a concern, and we don’t want your son or daughter to hit their head repeatedly and get multiple concussions, I mean that can’t be good for your brain. But we just don’t have evidence yet that repeated concussions or sub-concussive hits actually causes CTE,” he said.

A feature article profiles Evgeny A. Dyskin, MD, PhD, clinical assistant professor of orthopaedics, a native of Russia who specializes in trauma care and handles complex cases at Erie County Medical Center. He noted that patients who may be hesitant to be treated by a doctor from another country quickly change their minds in an emergency situation. “If you speak with an accent, sometimes elective patients in an office setting are apprehensive. It’s normal. I understand it,” he said. “Then I discovered when you see those same people in the emergency room, it’s a different situation. Once they understand you know what you’re talking about, all the superficial stuff goes away.”

Robert H. Ablove, MD, clinical associate professor of orthopaedics, is quoted in a story about grants from UBMD Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine to two community groups, including Hand in Hand, which works to design and fabricate prosthetic hands using 3-D printers and other tech tools. “When we heard about the Hand in Hand program, it was a no-brainer. This is the sort of initiative we want to be a part of,” Ablove said.

Adnan Siddiqui, MD, PhD, professor of neurosurgery, and Michael R. Ferrick, MD, clinical associate professor of orthopaedics, were among UB faculty interviewed about young athletes and weight training. “As long as it is done with appropriate technique, supervision, appropriate rest days and appropriate weight amounts and reps,” weight training can be “good for general overall health,” Ferrick said.

John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and medical director of the UBMD Concussion Management Clinic, was interviewed about concussions and what happens when an individual has a brain injury. He said the best way of determining whether a person has a concussion is a checklist of symptoms. “[There] are the physical signs on examination that I look for in everybody who I see with a concussion,” he said. “How their eyes are working and what their balance is like.”

An article about concussion and what happens when an individual has a brain injury interviews John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and medical director of UBMD's Concussion Management Clinic, who said the best way of determining whether a person has a concussion is a checklist of symptoms. “[There] are the physical signs on examination that I look for in everybody who I see with a concussion,” he said. “How their eyes are working and what their balance is like.”

Articles about a chest injury sustained by new Buffalo Bills receiver Jordan Matthews, who is sidelined indefinitely because of a chip fracture in his sternum, interview Matthew J. DiPaola, MD, clinical assistant professor of orthopaedics, who said a chip fracture involves a small sliver or shell breaking off any bone in the body. Chip fractures don’t usually require surgery and are treated through rest and anti-inflammatory medicine, he said, adding that a chip fracture to the sternum could cause a person discomfort when breathing.

An article reports on a new UB study that challenges a surgical practice used for decades during arthroscopic knee surgery, and quotes Leslie J. Bisson, MD, professor and chair of orthopaedics. “Those with less surgery got better faster in comparison with the people we did more surgery on,” he said.

A team of UB medical doctors led by Leslie J. Bisson, MD, June A. and Eugene R. Mindell, MD, Professor and chair of orthopaedics, have published a study that challenges a surgical practice used for decades during arthroscopic knee surgery. The study showed that clipping or removing loose cartilage after knee surgery for meniscal tears does not benefit the patient. “Those with less surgery got better faster in comparison with the people we did more surgery on,” he said.

A story on a study that found that 110 of 111 deceased former NFL players had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, interviews John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and medical director of the UBMD Concussion Management Clinic. “Their findings can suggest there’s a problem but do not prove it, and suggest that it’s probably an issue for a certain group of people who play contact sports but we don’t know who they are,” he said.

Thomas P. Doak, MD, clinical associate professor of orthopaedics, talks about what he loves about his field of medicine. "You just have to put things back together. That kind of appeals to me," says Doak.