The 2017 Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting was held in beautiful San Diego this past week. The Board of Directors of the Patellofemoral Foundation recently held our board meeting and luncheon in San Diego concurrent with the 2017 AAOS meeting.  This year we met at the Oceanaire Restaurant located a few blocks from the San Diego Convention Center.

Agenda items included updates on a number of ongoing projects and relationships with partners that include AANA, ISAKOS, and AOSSM.  The upcoming September 8-9, 2017 PFF/AANA Orthopaedic Learning Center course was discussed and significant time was given to ideas for providing residents and fellows with a focused course directed to teaching current and optimized options for treatment.

The board was grateful and fortunate that corporate donations continue to support efforts to provide education. Dr. John Fulkerson reviewed the current list of sponsors noting especially the generous DJO Global commitment to donate $250,000 over 5 years.  Continued support from Smith & Nephew, Kinamed was gratefully acknowledged as well as the first year of support from ZipLine Medical.

The board meeting was adjourned at noon and the invitation-only luncheon followed.  In attendance were leaders of PFF partner organizations including AANA President Rob Hunter, MD of Salida, CO and AOSSM President Ned Amendola, MD of Duke University.  Michael McBrayer, Sr. VP of DJO Global and Alain Tranchemontagne, Sr. VP of Smith & Nephew each took a few minutes to voice their commitment to the goals and efforts the Patellofemoral Foundation. Vineet Sarin, PhD, President of Kinamed, also attended this year’s luncheon.

Each year the PFF presents a very special award at the luncheon to honor significant contributions to patellofemoral science and treatment.  The Patellofemoral Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award this year was awarded to Vicente Sanchis-Alfonso MD PhD of Valencia, Spain.  Several previous recipients of the award, Dr. Alan Merchant and Dr. Liza Arendt, joined us for the celebration.  

The Board of Directors of the Patellofemoral Foundation is pleased to announce that DJO Global has again committed to supporting the organization. Senior Vice President Michael McBrayer recently confirmed to the board that DJO Global will support the organization with a 5 year, $50,000 per year commitment.

With the announcement, Mr. McBrayer added that “DJO Global is proud to continue and further our support to the Patellofemoral Foundation. The Foundation’s worldwide efforts to improve the quality of life for individuals with knee pain falls directly in line with DJO Global and our efforts to keep people in motion. Truly Motion is Medicine.”

Dr. John Fulkerson, founder and President of the Patellofemoral Foundation responded that “the Foundation is grateful for all support offered to support or mission and goals, but we are extremely pleased with the relationship with DJO Global that has been generous and consistent since we formed the organization in 2003.”

The PFF has partnered with major organizations to continue with their effort to provide education and support research to help surgeons with the information and options needed to help patients suffering from anterior knee pain. These organizations include AANA (Arthroscopy Association of North America), AOSSM (American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine) and ISAKOS (International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery, and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine).

“The board is looking forward to continuing with a number of successful and effective programs such as acknowledging and supporting research and traveling fellowships. Donations to the foundation also provide the opportunity to expand its reach into new areas such as developing programs to benefit residents”, said Eric Dahlinger, Executive Director of the PFF. 

The Patellofemoral Foundation Board of Directors is honored to announce that Kinamed, Inc. (Camarillo, CA) has again provided financial support to the Foundation for 2017. Vineet Sarin, Ph.D., President of Kinamed, notified the PFF Board of the grant commitment.

Kinamed has developed the unique KineMatch Patello-Femoral Replacement -- a true custom implant system fabricated specifically for each individual patient suffering from isolated, end-stage patello-femoral disease. Because the device is precisely manufactured to fit the patient's anatomy using CT data, no resection of femoral bone is required, thus preserving bone stock for the future. The design of the front (articulating) and back (bone fitting) sides of the implant are "decoupled" so that optimization of an intimate, bone-sparing fit, as well as proper kinematics and control of patella tracking, can be achieved. Overstuffing is avoided with a deep groove that accomodates the patella, while thicker medial and lateral margins provide stability. Favorable long-term clinical results have been reported. More information is available at the Kinamed website.