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Bone, Joint Center welcomes surgeon home

by Heather Murphy
Public Relations
Harry Demos, M.D., joined the MUSC Bone and Joint Center last year as associate professor and orthopaedic surgeon, but his connection to the university runs much deeper.

Demos was born at MUSC in 1965, obtained his doctorate of medicine at MUSC and completed his residency at MUSC. A native of Charleston, he attended high school on James Island and received his undergraduate degree in computer science from Clemson. Always interested in medicine, Demos discovered his love of body mechanics when he attended a bioengineering class.

Dr. Harry Demos checks Syble Langston's total hip replacement for agility.

“We were discussing implant design and were given the opportunity to witness a total hip replacement surgery. I was immediately attracted to it because it was a very mechanical, hands-on and logical field,” said Demos. Orthopaedics isn’t the only way Demos exercises his mechanical thinking; he also enjoys automobile restoration.

“I have an on-going project that belongs to my father-in-law, it’s a 1915 Model-T. I enjoy working on cars because it enables me to relax, although I don’t seem to get much time to spend on it.” 

For the last five and half years, his biggest stress reliever has been spending time with his wife, Lindsey, and his two daughters, who are 5 and 3. “A lot of my spare time revolves around my family. We ride bikes, play with the dogs and do yard work, which I enjoy as well.” 

And like any true Charlestonian, Demos loves anything having to do with the water. 
 “Fishing, boating, or just about any water activity makes me happy,” Demos said. “It’s kind of hard to grow up here without a boat.” 

Demos added that he never fully appreciated the South until he left it for Clemson  and then Boston, Birmingham and London, Ontario, to complete his postdoctoral training. He eventually made it back home in 2001 to begin work at the university. 

“One of the main reasons I came back to MUSC is to do the things that no one else will do. We handle cases that aren’t routine because it provides us with the ability to be on the cutting edge and trying new things. That in turn enables us to help more people,” Demos said. But his enthusiasm for MUSC and his field has to be curtailed at times. 

“You go into surgery hoping that you can help, and you can have a wonderful feeling about the outcome, but there needs to be a healthy level of anticipation. The initial rush of a successful surgery isn’t as important as the procedure benefiting the patient for the next 10, 20, or 30 years,” he said.

Demos wants to conduct research that will focus more on outcome analysis in his specialty of knee and hip replacements. 

Specifically, he's concerned that replacements wear out too quickly in his younger patients.

Demos works with a new technology that addresses this problem and is the only orthopaedic surgeon in Charleston using it. The alternative to total replacement involves the implantation of a metal spacer that realigns the knee. 

“The nice thing about this procedure is that it keeps total replacement at bay and doesn’t compromise the opportunity to have a total replacement later in life if needed.” 

Demos sees about 40 patients during clinic Monday and Tuesday at the Bone and Joint Center in West Ashley. He uses Wednesday and Thursday for surgery and Friday as an office day. 
 

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