Man Survives Near Heart Attack Thanks to Valve Replacement

Today, at 74 years old, Gene Hayman makes sure to get 10,000 steps in every day. He plays with his four grandchildren at the beach and wrestles with them every chance he gets. But in May, he nearly died.

Early that month, he woke up in the middle of the night with chest pain and difficulty breathing. He’d had several heart-related surgeries in the past and was familiar with the feeling. His wife took him to the emergency room at Southern Ocean Medical Center, where he met with Jasrai Gill, M.D., interventional cardiologist and chairman of medicine.

Near Heart Attack Reveals Severe Problems

“His [electrocardiogram] was concerning for a heart attack,” Dr. Gill says. “We knew that he had a bioprosthetic aortic valve and that the valve was leaking. We didn't know whether it was leaking from within the valve leaflets or whether it was from around the valve.”

When Gene appeared to be going into heart failure, Dr. Gill opted to send him to the catheterization lab immediately. After reviewing the images of all his arteries and the bypasses, Dr. Gill found that there was critical blockage of one of Gene’s bypasses. He stented the bypass, and Gene immediately improved clinically.

“Then I crashed, and I don't remember anything else from that point on,” Gene says.

While he was in the Intensive Care Unit after the stent, Gene started having shortness of breath again, lost consciousness and began developing congestive heart failure. Dr. Gill noticed, after subsequent imaging, that the valve was leaking far worse than he thought, and Gene was bleeding internally.

Emergency Aortic Valve Replacement

After Gene was stabilized and intubated, he was transferred by helicopter from Southern Ocean to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where Madhav Upadhyaya, M.D., awaited his arrival and discussed with his teammate, cardiothoracic surgeon Brook DeJene, M.D., about the patient’s options.

“Overnight, his condition worsened,” Dr. Upadhyaya says. “His kidneys and liver began to fail, and he needed dialysis. We knew he needed a valve replacement that day, or he likely would not survive. When patients are rapidly declining like this, if you don’t act quickly, it could be too late, and you can’t save them.”

In the operating room, Drs. DeJene and Upadhyaya and a team of other professionals performed an emergent transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), equipping Gene with a brand-new valve in just over an hour.

Long-lasting Results

When he awoke from surgery, Gene says his wife told him that the doctors were congratulating each other after the operation when they came out of the operating room. “Everybody was just so thrilled that it worked out the way it did,” he says.

Gene was able to walk out of the hospital a couple days later. After a week of recovering at home, he began walking 30 minutes a day and hasn’t stopped since.

Generally, the type of valve Gene received lasts about 10 years, Dr. Upadhyaya says, so it’s possible that Gene may need another replacement in the future, which is why he has regular check-ins with his cardiologist.

“This case really highlights the capabilities of the Hackensack Meridian Health network and the capabilities of having multiple interventionalists come together from multiple hospitals,” Dr. Gill says. “It's about having the ability to deal with the heart attack as well as the coordination of care to get the acute valve procedure done in a timely fashion.”

Next Steps & Resources

• Meet our sources: Jasrai Gill, M.D., Madhav Upadhyaya, M.D. and Brook DeJene, M.D.
• Make an appointment online with a cardiologist near you, or call 800-822-8905.
• Learn more about cardiac care at Hackensack Meridian Health.
• Schedule a AngioScreen near you.