Elise Ruder still has trouble remembering that night three months ago when she underwent emergency surgery at Mt. Sinai Hospital’s Cardiovascular Institute.
The 25 year old New Jersey native had just been diagnosed with acute pulmonary thromboembolism – a life-threatening clot in the main trunk of the pulmonary artery that obstructs the blood to lungs.
“I remember being scared when I was in the ambulance being taken to the hospital because my family couldn’t be with me,” says Ruder. “But otherwise, I don’t remember much.
“It all happened so quickly. By the time my brothers arrived at Mt. Sinai, I was already in the operating room.”
The ordeal started a few days earlier for Ruder when a doctor whom she was seeing for what she believed to be asthma advised her to undergo tests for her condition, which had been progressively getting worse.
She had always had a difficult time breathing, but now the affliction had become more than just a nuisance, as Ruder found herself regularly experiencing serious shortness of breath.
After a round of tests taken at Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, N.J. revealed the obstruction, she was referred to the experts at Mt. Sinai’s Cardiovascular Institute.
“She came to us late Friday afternoon and we operated shortly afterwards,” says Dr. Michael Poon, the Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program, who confirmed the diagnosis after conducting a series of tests on Ruder.
“When I saw her, she was deathly ill, she was gasping for air. It became apparent from the tests we performed that the right side of her heart was under a lot of pressure.
“She had developed hypertension in the right ventricle, the blood flow into her lungs was severely compromised and the pressure was building.”
Poon instantly got in contact with Dr. David Spielvogel, a cardiothoracic surgeon who specializes in surgery on conditions like Ruder’s.
“He was scheduled to take a trip to Chicago when I called,” recalls Poon. “I told him he would have to postpone because she may not make it otherwise, so of course he did.”
Spielvogel performed the seven-hour, technically difficult procedure that night. The clot was removed and Ruder had a new lease on life.
Spielvogel completed the surgery at around 4 am and caught his flight to Chicago four hours later.
The Cardiovascular Institute at Mt. Sinai was founded in 1994, and received a generous endowment by Zena and Michael A. Wiener in 1997, allowing it to establish a firm base for its future development.
Under the direction of Dr. Valentin Fuster, who had served as the chief of Cardiology at the hospital for over 10 years, a team of diagnosticians, surgeons, scientists and educators has been assembled whose goal it is to find new and improved methods of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of a wide range of disorders affecting the cardiovascular system.
“The Cardiovascular Institute here is really one of a kind in that we provide comprehensive care for every cardiovascular problem you can imagine,” says Poon. “We are one of the very few facilities in the country that can pull off the type of procedure that Elise underwent.”
Ruder still does not know what caused the clot that nearly cost her her life. She was told it could have been the birth control pills she was taking. It is rare, but sometimes oral contraceptives can cause a thromboembolism.
Whatever the reason, Ruder is just happy she’s OK now. She’s returned to her job in computer networking. She’s exercising sensibly, doing light running and using her treadmill, and she’s slowly recovering some of the memories she’d lost.
“The nurses in the Intensive Care Unit and the doctors were so great,” says Ruder. “There are very few people who can perform the type of surgery I required and they just happened to be at Mt. Sinai when I needed them.
“I definitely feel very fortunate to be living a healthy life.”