Patellofemoral replacement (reprinted from Clin. Orthop vol. 144, pg 98-102, 1979)

Twenty-five years ago Dr. Martin Blazina (Fig 1) and his colleagues published this classic article concerning patellofemoral replacement. Dr. Duncan McKeever(1) had written a paper on patellar resurfacing nearly 15 years previously, but Dr. Blazina's contribution took McKeever's concept one step further. Herein he describes the results of combined resurfacing of both sides of the patellofemoral articulation. In this forthright exposition he presented his results and reviewed the problems, complications, and ancillary procedures necessary to make the operation succeed. He concluded modestly that "Patients for isolated patellofemoral replacements should be carefully selected . . . the primary indications are distortion or severe degeneration of the femoral groove." Martin Blazina, born in May 1924, grew Lip in Argo, Illinois. He attended the University of Illinois before World War II. He majored initially in chemical engineering but the war interrupted his education from 1942 to 1945 and when lie returned from the South Pacific lie had decided to become a physician. After his graduation from the University of Illinois with ail doctor of medicine degree, he entered orthopaedics as a resident at the Los Angeles County Hospital, finishing in 1959. He practiced medicine in the Los Angeles area for the rest of his life, which ended in November 2002 after a 2-year Struggle with pancreatic carcinoma. He served on the full-time faculty at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) for 12 years, during Which lie provided the medical care required by the varsity and intramural teams at UCLA. His experience there honed his acknowledged expertise in the field of sports medicine in which he established a national and international reputation.