Fw: Mysterious knee surgery deaths

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Mysterious knee surgery deaths

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Tuesday, November 20, 2001 8:50 AM

Mysterious knee surgery deaths

 

 

http://www.msnbc.com/news/660192.asp

Mysterious knee surgery deaths

Procedure halted

in all of Minnesota

pending investigation

NBC's Robert Bazell reports on the deadly medical mystery in Minnesota.

 

By Robert Bazell

NBC NEWS

Nov. 19 — Recently, three men in Minnesota underwent a very common knee

operation and then, without warning, suddenly died. What happened? And could

other people who undergo this procedure — or similar operations — be at

risk?

 

AT Minnesota’s public health labs Monday, investigators searched for

clues. The three men who died were all in perfect health before they

underwent common knee surgery.

“These are very frightening deaths, unexpected deaths,” says Dr.

Harry Hull, a Minnesota State Epidemiologist.

Minnesota officials, together with investigators from the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, are getting reports of what could be dozens

of similar cases from many parts of the country. But each requires careful

investigation.

One case under investigation involves Roman Smicek, a hockey player

with the Minnesota Wild who suffered a severe infection following knee

surgery in the off season, but recovered and is playing again.

“We’re looking at a nation-wide investigation to see if we can find

additional cases,” says Dr. Hull.

 

THE MYSTERY BEGINS

The mystery started on Nov. 11, when a 23-year-old man and a

78-year-old man died following knee replacement operations at St. Cloud

Hospital. At first, investigators focused on the hospital.

Then last Friday a man in his 60s died at Douglas County Hospital 70

miles away. He died in the same sudden way, following a cartilage surgery.

“It’s very rapidly downhill,” says Hull. “They start off with severe

stomach pain, end up having — losing their blood pressure and dying very

rapidly.”

 

Initial cultures indicate the presence of bacteria called

Colstridium, but health officials not certain that is the cause or whether

it came from a contaminated instrument or other source. As a precaution they

have ordered a halt to all elective knee surgery in the entire state of

Minnesota for at least a week. Officials do not suspect bioterrorism.

More than 260,000 people undergo total knee replacement every year,

and hundreds of thousands more get other kinds of knee surgery. And medical

detectives say it will take several days more before they know if there is a

widespread danger.

 

Robert Bazell is Chief Science Corespondent for NBC News.