Cardiac team rallies, saves Southeast Side patient in many ways

Members of the Advocate Trinity Hospital cardiac team put their personal lives on hold earlier his month to rescue a 50-year-old patient facing health catastrophe and save him from open-heart surgery by using an innovative new procedure.

The patient came to Advocate Trinity by ambulance on a Saturday night, after collapsing in his home. Initial exams showed the patient had pulmonary embolisms that could safely be monitored and addressed during the Cath Lab’s regular hours of operation.

However, during subsequent monitoring, Echocardiogram Technician Mayra Medrano noticed a new, life-threatening blood clot in the patient’s right atrium, and alerted Advocate Trinity Interventional Cardiologist Dr. Paul Silverman, immediately.

“The patient already had significant right ventricular strain, and in my opinion, if the thrombus had embolized to the pulmonary artery, it likely would have been catastrophic,” Dr. Silverman said.

Because the transfer as well as the recovery from open-heart surgery were too risky, Dr. Silverman reached out to fellow ATH Cardiologists Dr. Imran Ali and Dr. Abdulah Alrifai. Neither physician was on-call, but they both rushed to the hospital to help. At the same time, three Cath Lab teammates who were out of the hospital and on-call, also hurried to the hospital.

With a full Cath Team assembled, Dr. Ali performed a transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) – a new technology that captures images inside the heart, using a thin probe inserted via the throat. Then, guided by TEE, Dr. Alrifai removed the clot from the patient’s right atrium and both pulmonary arteries. Anesthesiologist Dr. Ihuoma Ofama, who was already in the hospital, provided anesthesia during the procedure.

“This case speaks to the dedication of the staff in the Cath Lab as well as my cardiologist partners who came in when they were not on-call to take care of this sick patient,” Dr. Silverman said, noting that “if [Medrano] had not recognized the clot and alerted me immediately, we would not of been able to act on it.”