Dr. Jorge Galante, the first chairman of the orthopedic surgery department at what is now Rush University Medical Center, was a skilled surgeon and pioneering researcher who helped revolutionize the science of joint replacement.
"He was a rare breed, at the same time a surgeon and a very rigorous scientist," said Dr. Joshua Jacobs, Galante’s partner and now chairman of orthopedic surgery at Rush.
Galante, one of the first surgeons in the Chicago area to do total hip replacements, noticed that the bone cement used in the joints was a problem. While the cement worked in older, less active patients, it didn’t hold up in younger, more active patients.
"Bone cement was a weak link," Jacobs said.
Recognizing the problem and working with metallurgists and other scientists, Galante developed a porous metal fiber coating for prosthetic devices to allow natural bone growth to fix the device in the patient’s bone.
"The porous metal surface allows the (patient’s own) bone to grow in, and was extremely successful," Jacobs said.
Galante, 82, died of complications from cancer Feb. 9 in his Florida home on Sanibel Island, said his son, Charles. He also had a 600-acre farm in Clinton, Wis.
Galante was born in Buenos Aires and was educated through medical school in Argentina before coming to Chicago in 1958 to intern at the now-defunct Michael Reese Hospital.
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He completed his residency in orthopedics in 1964 at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago. From 1964 to 1967, he studied as a research fellow at the University of Goteborg in Sweden, receiving a doctorate of medical science. He returned to Chicago in 1968 and worked at the University of Illinois Hospital until he was appointed the first chairman of orthopedics at Rush in 1972.
He had become interested in orthopedics while in Sweden, his son said. Back in Chicago, he began doing hip replacements, following a procedure developed by British surgeon Sir John Charnley.
Jacobs said Galante and others went to Britain to train with Charnley, who used an acrylic cement to fix prosthetic components to patients’ bones. Jacobs, who was a medical student when he met Galante, said his mentor was working to understand the scientific basis of joint replacement to make better, longer-lasting and more effective devices.
"He developed a unique biologic agent," Jacobs said. The coating Galante developed with others started with tiny bent titanium fibers, porous metal surfaces that were bonded to the surface of the prosthetic to provide a structure into which a patient’s living bone could grow.
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"That’s the innovation he extensively researched," Jacobs said. "The technology is still used today."
Galante’s skills in orthopedics even impacted the animal world. In 1986, he and a veterinarian and others donated their services to perform hip replacements on Beta, a 25-year-old female gorilla at the Brookfield Zoo. Beta had lost use of both legs due to arthritis. The surgery was successful, and Beta lived another 22 years pain-free.
"He was a brilliant physician-scientist," said Dr. Gunnar Andersson, who followed Galante as department chairman. "He was one of the first to understand the importance of the connection between bone and prosthesis in hip and knee replacements."
Andersson said Galante not only helped develop and patent the fiber metal coating, but went on to work with others on the design of prosthetic knees and hips.
"The Miller-Galante knee and the Harris-Galante hip were the most popular in the world," Andersson said.
Galante retired as chairman at Rush in 1994 but continued operating for several years and followed patients even after that.
Jacobs said Galante was still helping him and others on research issues just weeks before he died.
"He also placed Rush on the map in terms of orthopedic surgery by combining excellence in research with clinical excellence in patient care," Andersson said.
Ironically, for an orthopedic specialist, Galante had what his son called a "bad back." He had enjoyed horseback riding as a youngster in Argentina and about the time he retired he bought the Wisconsin farm and decided to get back into riding.
He found that a breed of horse called the Peruvian Paso had an unusually smooth gait. The search for a comfortable riding horse led to deep involvement with the breed. He started breeding the horses and showing them, even in South America. He once had as many as 40 horses in a sprawling operation on his farm.
Galante’s wife, Sofija, whom he met in 1960 and married in 1963, died in 2010.
In addition to his son, he is survived by a brother, Juan Carlos, and four grandchildren.
Plans are being made for spring services.
Graydon Megan is a freelance reporter.
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