Newswise — (NEW YORK – August 25, 2015) Mount Sinai orthopaedic surgeons and sports medicine physicians caring for athletes at the US Open this year will be joined for the first time by radiologists using portable ultrasound devices to help quickly diagnose bone, muscle and joint injuries. For the third year in a row, Mount Sinai is serving as the Official Medical Services Provider for the tennis tournament, including care to be provided by radiologists from Mount Sinai St. Luke’s, Mount Sinai Roosevelt, and The Mount Sinai Hospital within the Mount Sinai Health System.

In addition, Alexis Chiang Colvin, MD, Associate Professor of Sports Medicine in the Leni and Peter W. May Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and team physician for the US Fed Cup Team, will continue her role at the tournament as chief medical officer of the United States Tennis Association (USTA).

“The USTA and Mount Sinai share the common goals of promoting tennis as healthy exercise, preventing injury, and ensuring that injured athletes receive the highest quality treatment at the US Open and year round,” said Dr. Colvin. “We will ensure that all competitors have the very best care, including access to the latest technologies.”

"Caring for professional tennis players at the US Open provides our physicians with unique insights into how to better treat amateur players we see year round," said James Gladstone, MD, Co-Chief of the Sports Medicine Service at The Mount Sinai Hospital, Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine, medical advisor to the US Davis Cup tennis team, and consultant to the US Open.

Beyond providing medical care at tournaments, Mount Sinai's team of sports medicine experts has worked with the USTA since 2013 to develop programs in injury prevention, community tennis, and diversity, and to conduct educational outreach on tennis and health.

Fast Onsite Injury DiagnosesMount Sinai diagnostic radiologists will use the LOGIQ e, a portable, laptop-sized ultrasound device made by GE Healthcare, to diagnose musculoskeletal injuries at the US Open without ionizing radiation. The care team will also be using GE Healthcare’s pocket-sized ultrasound, Vscan with Dual Probe, for shallow and deep tissues, to help them with quick, non-invasive diagnosis.

“Injuries of the tendons, muscles, and joints are very common at high-level sporting events, and having portable ultrasound machines on hand will help us to diagnose and treat them faster,” said Carlos Benitez, MD, Director of Musculoskeletal Imaging at Mount Sinai Roosevelt and Mount Sinai St. Luke’s. “This way, the injured athletes and their physicians can instantly decide on treatment options and assess their ability to remain competitive during the tournament. Mount Sinai is a leader in bringing technologies from the hospital into the field.”

“With the portable ultrasound, physicians can triage patients at the point of care and recommend more involved imaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging, if necessary,” said Alexander Kagen, MD, Site Chair, Department of Radiology, Mount Sinai Roosevelt and Mount Sinai St. Luke’s. “It also enables radiologists to have a more active role in direct patient care and places our highly trained musculoskeletal imagers in the field as members of multidisciplinary care teams.”

Along with Drs. Colvin, Gladstone, Benitez, and Kagen, other Mount Sinai's physicians supporting the 2015 US Open will include:

• Melissa Leber, MD, Assistant Professor of Sports Medicine, Leni and Peter W. May Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Director of Emergency Department, Sports Medicine, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai Roosevelt• Brian Neri, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Orthopaedics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai• Adam Cohen, MD, Attending, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai Roosevelt• Darren Fitzpatrick, MD, Assistant Professor of Radiology; Director of Musculoskeletal Imaging Procedures, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai• Alex Maderazo, MD, Director of Musculoskeletal radiology at The Mount Sinai Hospital, Assistant Professor of Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai has worked closely with ProHEALTH Care Associates LLP, one of the largest physician group practices in the New York metropolitan area to provide medical services at the US Open since 1997, a tradition that will continue this year. The ProHEALTH team is led by Elliot Pellman, MD, Medical Director of ProHEALTH Care Associates, and Clinical Professor of Medicine, Rheumatology, and Orthopaedics at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Deena Casiero, MD, returns as the Director of Player Medical Services for the US Open. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics at the Icahn School of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine.

About the USTAThe USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level -- from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 715,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world, and launched the Emirates Airline US Open Series, linking seven summer tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s philanthropic entity, the USTA Foundation, provides grants and scholarships and helps under-resourced youth and individuals with disabilities, and supports wounded, ill and injured service members, veterans and their families. For more information on the USTA, log on to usta.com, “like” the official Facebook page, facebook.com/usta, or follow @usta on Twitter.

About the Mount Sinai Health SystemThe Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education. Structured around seven hospital campuses and a single medical school, the Health System has an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient services—from community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care.

The System includes approximately 6,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 12 minority-owned free-standing ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the highest in the nation in National Institutes of Health funding per investigator. The Mount Sinai Hospital is nationally ranked as one of the top 25 hospitals in 8 specialties in the 2014-2015 “Best Hospitals” issue of U.S. News & World Report. Mount Sinai’s Kravis Children’s Hospital also is ranked in seven out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is also ranked nationally, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s, and Mount Sinai Roosevelt are ranked regionally.

For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

# # #