Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/701910
H E A RT B E AT S torrancememorial.org PULSE | 21 "ABOUT 50% OF AORTIC DISSECTION VICTIMS DIE BEFORE EVER REACHING A HOSPITAL." I magine you're outside on an April morning, watching workers fumigate a beehive. Suddenly you get a "brain freeze" as if you've taken a big gulp of an icy drink. But this brain freeze extends down into your jaw, then into your chest. It's hard to breathe. You're panting like a dog. Have you been poisoned? Aer 10 minutes, you know it's time to go to the emergency room. You're seen immediately —X-ray, CT scan. e ER physician calls in a surgeon. He says there is a 50% chance you will die in the next 24 hours unless you get into an operating room immediately. It's a nightmare scenario, but it happens. It happened to Ron Emry last year. Emry had not been poisoned—he had an aortic dissection, and he was almost certainly going to die. But Emry and his wife made it to Torrance Memorial Medical Center, he was able to have surgery immediately, and today he's alive to tell the tale. e aorta is the body's largest artery, carrying oxygenated blood from the heart throughout the body. e walls of the aorta are made up of three layers. An aortic dissection occurs when a tear in the wall's inner layer allows blood to flow between the layers, separating them. "It's a very life-threatening condition," says cardiac surgeon Jack Sun, MD, MS, FRCSC. Dr. Sun was on call when Emry came into the Torrance Memorial Lundquist Emergency Department. Emry's symptoms—most significantly the quick onset of severe chest pain—suggested one of three serious conditions: heart attack, pulmonary embolism or aortic dissection. e ER physician ordered a CT scan, which ruled out a pulmonary embolism (blockage of the pulmonary artery) but suggested an aortic dissection. About half of aortic dissection victims die before ever reaching a hospital. Just by getting to Torrance Memorial, Emry was beating the odds. e ER staff 's quick action helped immeasurably. Aortic dissection can be misdiagnosed, and even for victims who reach a hospital, 50% die within 24 hours if nothing is done. Dr. Sun was summoned immediately, and even before confirming a diagnosis of aortic dissection, he'd called to assemble the operating team and prep the operating room. Every minute counted. But when Dr. Sun told him he needed emergency surgery, Emry knew he'd make it. "I knew that things were going to work out for me," he recalls. "Everything had fallen into place." His wife Phyllis says she dropped everything to rush him to the emergency room. [Note: always call 911.] As soon as Emry walked in, everyone in the reception area parted to let him through. He was in surgery within an hour. e surgery lasted 10 hours, not unusual, says Dr. Sun. "You have to cool the patient's body temperature, stop the circulation entirely, cut out the damaged aortic tissue, put the remaining layers back together," he explains, "and replace part of the aorta with an artificial tube gra." Much of the time is spent on the repair, then drying up the operative field. Postoperative recovery is serious, but "he couldn't have gotten better treatment," says Phyllis. "All of the hospital staff were wonderful," agrees Emry. With their care, he was able to leave the hospital in just five days. Emry's strong constitution helped—now in his 70s, the retired Army officer still exercises daily—and advances in surgical techniques and in critical care treatment over the past decade have increased success rates, says Dr. Sun. Improvements in the prompt and accurate diagnosis of aortic dissection are perhaps even more important. And the condition gained public and medical attention in 2003, when actor John Ritter's life was tragically cut short by aortic dissection. Still, aortic dissections and aortic aneurysms, a related condition, are responsible for more than 15,000 deaths in America each year, according to the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health. "If this article can get just one person, when they're having the feelings Ron had, to think, 'Oh, maybe this is what's happening,' that'll be worth it," says Phyllis. Still recovering from his surgery—he says he's back up to 80% or 90% in his golf game—Ron Emry just celebrated what he calls his 1-year "rebirthday." "I'm so thankful for everything they did," he says. "Something like this gives you a whole new perspective. I've been given a second chance on life."