When former Brick resident Geralyn Fogarty, now 67, retired from her career in nursing, she thought she was done spending time in hospitals. She felt great, enjoyed running half marathons and working out regularly, and was transitioning to full-time living in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Her extended family has a tradition of completing age-appropriate health screenings together every year. In 2022, they decided on AngioScreen, a comprehensive heart and vascular screening.

“Hackensack Meridian Health was offering AngioScreens and my family was doing it, so I made the appointment and didn’t expect anything to come of it,” Geralyn says. “They give you the results right there in color. Unfortunately, I didn’t like what I saw.”

AngioScreen Results Require Further Investigation

Geralyn’s AngioScreen results showed a blockage in her carotid artery. After a visit with her primary care provider, she made an appointment with Frank Sharp, M.D., a vascular surgeon she had worked with at Ocean University Medical Center and who had treated her parents for years.

Dr. Sharp ordered more imaging and determined her carotid blockage was serious at 85%. He asked her to get further testing with cardiologist Ali Moosvi, M.D.

“As a vascular surgeon, I fix arteries and veins everywhere except for the heart,” says Dr. Sharp. “When I find atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, I can look for more elsewhere in the body, but a cardiologist needs to look at the heart.”

“AngioScreen doesn’t show problems in the heart, but if there is stenosis (narrowing) elsewhere, that’s an indication we should check for blockages in the heart,” Dr. Moosvi adds.

Further testing uncovered additional areas of atherosclerosis. Geralyn had three blockages in her heart, including a dangerous one in her left anterior descending artery.

“She had what is popularly called the widowmaker,” says Dr. Moosvi. “Because she experienced no symptoms, it might have been found later if she began having chest pains, or not until she had a potentially fatal heart attack.”

Clearing the Blockage

Soon after, Geralyn had an outpatient angioplasty with a stent insertion to open the blocked cardiac artery. “We performed an ultrasound via a tiny wire that goes into the heart, which gives us a lot of information we can use,” he says. “We originally thought she might need a bypass, but the ultrasound with catheterization led us to a less invasive procedure with a good outcome.”

After reducing Geralyn’s risk of heart attack by clearing the blockage in her heart, it was time to reduce her risk of stroke by clearing the blockage in her neck.

Dr. Sharp performed an endarterectomy to open her carotid artery. In this procedure, he opened the artery through Geralyn’s neck, cleaned it out and closed it. Due to the severity of the blockage, he had ruled out watchful waiting or stenting as solutions.

“To address a carotid artery, imagine a pipe with rust narrowing it,” says Dr. Sharp. “As a vascular surgeon, we have all these tools in our toolkit to remove that rust. We can follow, operate or stent.”

After one night in the hospital, Geralyn went home with instructions to take blood thinners for one year and daily aspirin indefinitely, along with a plan to reduce her cholesterol long-term. Her doctors are keeping an eye on the other two cardiac blockages for now.

AngioScreen Saves Lives

Geralyn and her doctors are convinced that AngioScreen may have saved her life, but stress that the screening is meant for people without reason to suspect vascular disease. It’s a preventive measure designed for people with low or average risk.

Geralyn is grateful she went along with her family’s plan to get their AngioScreens together.

“I was always in good shape, but I failed the genetic lottery,” she says. “I could literally be dead right now if I didn’t get that AngioScreen. That’s why I’m so ecstatic about spreading this news.”

Watch Hackensack Meridian Health CEO get an AngioScreen

Next Steps & Resources

• Meet our sources: Frank Sharp, M.D. and Ali Moosvi, M.D.
• To make an appointment with a cardiologist near you, call 800-822-8905 or visit our website.
• Learn more about cardiac care at Hackensack Meridian Health.
• Schedule a AngioScreen near you.

The material provided through HealthU is intended to be used as general information only and should not replace the advice of your physician. Always consult your physician for individual care.