Dr.
Leopold ranked as a "Top Doctor" in the category of "Joint Replacement Surgery" according to Seattle Magazine (September 2007), specializes in knee and hip replacement surgery. He has a
particular interest in the use of minimally-invasive joint replacement
techniques to decrease post-operative pain, shorten the hospital stay, and help
his patients recover more quickly following the surgery. He performs and teaches quadriceps-sparing
total knee replacement, a new technique that may help patients return to
function within weeks of knee replacement surgery, rather than months. His
practice focuses on the care of patients with hip and knee arthritis, as well
as those suffering with painful or failed joint replacements.
Dr. Leopold received his medical degree with honors in research from Cornell
University Medical
College in New
York. He completed his Orthopaedic training at the University
of Chicago and performed a
fellowship in Joint Replacement at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical
Center. Following this, he spent
time teaching arthritis surgery and performing arthritis research while on a
3-year active-duty tour in the US Army Medical Corps, where he received two
consecutive Outstanding Faculty Awards for his efforts. He has been recognized
at the national level for his research into problems related to hip and knee
arthritis. After leaving the military, Dr. Leopold joined the faculty of the UW
Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine as an associate professor in
August 2002.
He sees patients at the Bone
and Joint Center and at the Eastside
Specialty Center.
Recently, Dr. Seth Leopold ranked as a "Top Doctor" in the
category of "Joint Replacement Surgery" (News source: Seattle Magazine, September 2007).
What do you most enjoy about your work?
Working in academic medicine allows me to spend time in three distinct, but
related, areas: taking care of patients, doing research, and teaching
orthopaedic surgery. I joined the UW faculty because the environment is
supportive enough to allow me to continue to develop in all three areas.
In the area of patient care, I especially enjoy the close relationships I
develop with patients whom I am able to follow over long periods of time. Most
of those patients never even have surgery, but because of the nature of
arthritic conditions, I see them from time to time to help them along with
non-operative treatments. All throughout, they share family stories, outside
interests, a bit about their history; sometimes I do the same. In the process,
friendships form. When patients do come to surgery, I find it particularly
gratifying that so many patients are able to do so well--both in terms of pain
and function--following joint replacement.
What is your treatment philosophy?
I've heard the job of surgeon described as "part mentor, part coach,
and part cheerleader." That’s not a bad summary of how I see myself in
working with patients who have arthritis. Since most of the surgery I do is
considered elective--usually life-improving, but seldom life-saving--the
decision to have surgery can become very complicated. In other words, patients
who decide to have arthritis surgery take a risk with their health (the
operation itself), in the hope of obtaining a better quality of life. Because
only the person with the pain knows when the time is right to make this choice,
I would never tell an arthritis sufferer that he or she "needs" a
joint replacement.
Rather, I prefer to help educate patients as to the risks and benefits of
arthritis surgery, and am able to do this only after considering each patient's
specific health problems, pain patterns, and desired life activities. Because
of the very personal nature of this decision, there is no "cookbook"
approach, and while my role in this process is important, I am fundamentally
there in support of each individual patient. Once a patient decides to have
surgery–-and after the surgery has taken place--my job as coach and cheerleader
begins. How much of each depends on the needs of each individual patient.
What are your interests outside of medicine?
Since I'm the father of two young daughters, much of my free time is family
time. We’ve moved to Seattle to
enjoy the outdoors. My wife and I are avid backcountry campers and sea
kayakers. I also enjoy telemark skiing and rock climbing. When not outdoors, I
love to read. Authors I’ve been enjoying lately include James Salter (Light
Years, Cassada), Paul Auster (Leviathan, The Music of Change, The New
York Trilogy), and Stephen Ambrose (The
Wild Blue).
What is the focus of your teaching efforts?
Apart from patient care, working with orthopaedic residents is the highlight
of my job. I've developed a curriculum to help surgeons-in-training learn to
read the scientific literature more critically--a topic that is really not
formally taught in most medical schools. This has been pretty well received,
and from my standpoint, is also great fun to do.
On the national level, I'm involved with orthopaedic
education as one of the surgeons who helps decide which papers get presented at
the annual meeting of the American
Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in the area of adult hip reconstruction. I
also was a co-developer of an educational
CD-ROM for orthopaedic surgeons called "The Arthritic Knee,"
which was produced by the AAOS, and I currently work as a consultant reviewer
for The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery in the area of adult hip and knee
surgery.
What do your most recent research efforts focus on?
For the most part, I do clinical research on treatments for hip and knee
arthritis. I recently completed a prospective, randomized trial comparing a new
injectable medicine for knee arthritis (a hyaluronic acid product called Synvisc)
with an old standby--cortisone shots. I also completed a study looking at the
one element of the physiological stress response to surgery--sometimes called
the "fight or flight" response--in patients having major and minor
knee operations. A relatively new interest of mine is investigating how certain
non-scientific factors sometimes are associated with outcomes in orthopaedic
research.
What is the focus of your clinical efforts?
I specialize in hip and knee replacement surgery. This includes taking care
of patients with all types of arthritis when it affects those joints, as well
as caring for adult patients with other acquired or developmental hip and knee
problems, such as osteonecrosis (avascular necrosis), developmental/congenital
hip dysplasia or dislocations, and post-traumatic problems of the hips or
knees. Also, I can help patients who have had hip or knee replacements but who
develop problems with those joints, such as severe persistent pain,
dislocation, instability, infection, or loosening of the implants.
I am especially interested in some of the newer, less-invasive approaches to
hip and knee replacement, including unicompartmental
("mini") knee replacement, minimally-invasive quadriceps-sparing
total knee replacement, and less-invasive techniques of hip replacement surgery.
Selected bibliography of Dr. Leopold’s recent scientific publications:
- Leopold, S.S.; Warme, W.J.;
Braunlich, E.F.; Shott, S.: Publication bias in the orthopaedic literature
– "Risk factors" for a positive outcome. Presented at the 69th
Annual Meeting of the American American
Academy of Orthopaedic
Surgeons (Dallas, TX),
February 13-17, 2002.
- Leopold, S.S.; Warme, W.J.;
Pettis, P.D.; Shott, S.: Increased frequency of acute local reaction to
intra-articular hylan G-F 20 (Synvisc) in patients receiving more than one
course of treatment. J Bone Joint Surg 84-A:1619-1623, 2002. (Read abstract
here.)
- Leopold, S.S.; Battista, V.;
Oliverio, J.A.: Safety and efficacy of intra-articular hip injection using
anatomic landmarks. Clin Orthop 191: 192-197, 2001
- Leopold, S.S.; McStay, C.;
Klafeta, K.; Jacobs, J.J.; Berger, R.A.; Rosenberg, A.G.: Primary repair
of intraoperative disruption of the medial collateral ligament during
total knee arthroplasty. J Bone Joint Surg 83-A: 86-91, 2001.
Latest patient-related articles by Dr. Leopold
Streaming video featuring Dr. Leopold
Minimally-Invasive Joint Replacement
Dr. Seth Leopold discusses less-invasive knee and hip replacement surgery in this UWTV video.
- Clinics: Bone and Joint
Center: (206) 598-0685 or web
site) or Eastside Specialty
Center: (425) 646-7777 or web
site
- Patient Care Coordinator: Cindy Taber: (206) 598-3354