“About 15 to 20 minutes later, I heard a sudden grunt and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Derrick’s arm come up, pressed tightly against his chest,” said Zebedee, also a Waukegan resident. “I asked again, ‘Are you okay?’ but when I turned to look at him fully, he said nothing. The look in his eyes is something that still haunts me to this day.”

Recognizing the symptoms as a potential heart attack, Zebedee rushed to the nearest emergency department at Northwestern Medicine Catherine Gratz Griffin Lake Forest Hospital.

“I drove right up to the ER doors, telling the man behind the counter, ‘My son’s having a heart attack.’ Derrick walked in on his own, still holding his arm against his chest,” recalled Zebedee. “They took him into a room right away while I waited in what felt like an eternity of silence in the waiting room. From then on everything was overwhelming and unfamiliar.”

Hall was experiencing a non–ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), a type of heart attack caused by a partial blockage in a coronary artery, the blood vessels that carry oxygenated blood to the heart. Clinicians also discovered that he had advanced coronary artery disease, far more extensive than typically seen in someone his age.

“When blood flow is reduced, the heart struggles to function; it’s unable to beat properly and becomes deprived of oxygen, which damages the heart muscle and can quickly become life threatening,” explained Ricardo Boix Garibo, MD, cardiac surgeon at Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital. “Time is critical during a heart attack. His mother’s quick recognition of symptoms and decision to get him to the hospital quickly likely saved Derrick’s life and prevented more extensive damage to his heart.”

After initial stabilization, Derrick was transferred to Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital for planned surgery later in the week. Within hours of arrival, his condition became urgent.

“Despite an intra‑aortic balloon pump and nitroglycerine drip, Derrick continued to have significant chest pain,” said Dr. Boix. “His risk was increasing quickly. We made the decision to take him for emergency surgery.”

Dr. Boix performed a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedure with support from an extensive multidisciplinary team.

“Heart surgery requires a highly coordinated team effort — from the surgeon, cardiologists, anesthesia staff, physician assistants and perfusion teams to our nurses and ICU staff. Every individual plays a vital role,” Dr. Boix said. “At McHenry Hospital, we are privileged and fortunate enough to have an exceptional team prepared to respond rapidly in emergency situations. Their skill, dedication, and teamwork are reflected in outstanding patient outcomes such as this one.”

Hall’s postoperative recovery went smoothly and he continues to do well during follow‑up visits. While he is feeling good, he says he is still working to build back his strength and endurance.

“I know it will take time, but I’m feeling good and continuing to improve,” said Hall. “I am increasing my walking distance and I just had a stress test, which went well. I am looking forward to getting back to how I was before the heart attack.”

Family Praises Skill, Communication, and Compassion

For Zebedee, the experience was overwhelming from the moment her son was taken back for treatment. She credits the Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital team with bringing structure, calm, and clarity during the most frightening hours of her life.

“A room was ready the second he arrived. There were monitors, wires—people moving quickly but with complete control,” Zebedee said. “They allowed us to stay with him, talked us through everything, and never made us feel like we were in the way. Their compassion stayed with us.”

Meeting Dr. Boix gave both the patient and family a sense of immediate trust.

“He was calm, gentle, and honest,” said Zebedee. “He explained the plan without rushing, always giving us time to ask questions. After the surgery, he checked on Derrick regularly and walked us through every detail of what he had done. His patience and kindness meant everything.”

“Dr. Boix was incredible through the whole thing,” recalled Hall. “He always took the time to explain what was going on, what was going to happen and what I could expect. He listened to me and my family when we had questions.” 

The family was so moved by the care they received that they wrote letters to Dr. Boix and the ICU staff, delivering them in person. Hall’s nephew personally thanked Dr. Boix for saving his best friend. 

“We needed them to know what they did for us,” Lisa said. “They didn’t just care for Derrick, they cared for our family. Dr. Boix is our hero, and the entire team will always hold a place in our hearts.”

A Silent Risk That Often Goes Undetected in Younger Adults

Hall’s diagnosis also sheds light on a growing but often overlooked reality: coronary artery disease can develop at any age, and many people don’t know they have it until a cardiac event occurs. While undergoing testing for his heart attack, physicians discovered that Derrick had advanced coronary artery disease, far more severe than what doctors typically see in someone in their mid‑30s.

“I had no idea heart disease could happen to me, especially at 35,” said Hall. “There’s no heart history in my family, so we were all surprised.”

Coronary artery disease can progress silently for years. When arteries begin to narrow and reduce blood flow, the heart becomes deprived of the oxygen it needs to function properly, which can quickly become life‑threatening if not treated.

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States. Nearly half of all Americans have some form of cardiovascular disease, often without knowing it. Understanding personal risk factors and staying proactive about screenings, blood pressure checks, and cholesterol management can help identify problems before a life-threatening event.

“Prevention and early detection are critical,” Dr. Boix said. “Derrick’s story is a powerful reminder that heart disease does not always look the way we expect. Knowing your personal risk factors, including family history, and focusing on a lifestyle that emphasizes exercise, healthy nutrition, and sleep are the first steps in keeping your heart healthy.”

The Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute offers risk reduction programs based on both lifestyle and genetic factors. To better understand your own heart disease risk, take the online Heart Risk Assessment. For more information about Northwestern Medicine’s top‑ranked cardiovascular care, visit nm.org/heart or call 312.NM.HEART (312.664.3278).

To learn more about Northwestern Medicine, visit https://news.nm.org/.

CHICAGO, IL – September 2, 2025 – Jessica Lopez doesn’t remember being able to see. The 32-year-old from Chicago, Ill., spent most of her childhood in a hospital, battling leukemia and retinoblastoma that would leave her completely blind. Although years of chemotherapy would help treat the cancers, it would lead to other health problems later in life.  

In November 2023, Lopez was engaged to be married when she found out she needed a new heart and a new liver. She was in heart failure from cardiomyopathy, a type of heart disease affecting the heart muscle, and the impact had spread to her liver. Lopez was listed for a double-organ transplant at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and spent one year on the waiting list. During that time, her condition began affecting a third organ. Lopez no longer needed just a heart and liver – she also needed a new kidney.  

Despite being considered high-risk for the procedure, Lopez says she was never scared. 

“I’ve always been a very positive person, and I don’t like to ever think negatively,” said Lopez. “I was confident from the very beginning that my doctors at Northwestern Medicine were going to do this successfully.”

Finding the right match

Triple-organ transplants are incredibly rare, with only 59 transplants of the heart, liver, and kidney recorded in the U.S. to date. Specialized teams with the Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute (BCVI) and the Northwestern Medicine Organ Transplant Center had performed a successful triple transplant in the past and were ready to take on Lopez’s case.  

“From the day I met her in clinic, I knew we were going to pull out all the stops to do what we needed to do to get her feeling better,” said Benjamin Bryner, MD, a cardiac surgeon at Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute. “She has an attitude that’s really positive, she’s endearing, and has a great sense of humor. Just walking out of the clinic room, I thought, ‘this is going to be tricky, but we absolutely have to do this.’”

Wait times for triple-organ transplants are often longer than those for single-organ transplants since all three organs must come from the same donor. This can complicate the organ approval process, as sometimes two out of three organs may match but not the third. 

“When you have multiple failing organs, along with a patient who is young and has heart damage due to chemotherapy as opposed to the usual heart disease, it gets a lot more complicated,” said Dr. Bryner. “It’s unusual to find a recipient who can safely get through this complex of an operation.”

On February 24, three organs became available, and Lopez went in for her transplant. Lopez’s heart and liver were transplanted together before a different group of surgeons could move on to the kidney. 

“We transplanted the heart and liver in one block to limit the amount of time the organs go without blood or oxygen,” said Juan Carlos Caicedo, MD, transplant surgeon and surgical director of the Liver Transplant Program at Northwestern Medicine. “The heart and the liver stay connected the whole time from the donor to the recipient. While Dr. Bryner was doing the heart transplant, we were sewing the liver graft. You have two surgeons working simultaneously and that’s one of the advantages of our team.” 

Looking to the future

Lopez is now thriving with her new heart, liver, and kidney, and has been in remission from cancer for 20 years. 

“I feel like I was reborn again,” said Lopez. “I have more energy, my heart beats much stronger and my hands are even warmer. I’m incredibly grateful for my organ donor and their family. Because of their selfless decision, I’ve been given a second chance at life and can start planning for my future.”

Despite being blind with multiple medical challenges, Lopez never tells herself there’s something she can’t do.

“If I have to go somewhere I use landmarks when traveling on my own,” said Lopez. “My phone has accessibility to access rideshare and social media apps. When cooking for myself I use my hands to locate items on the stove. I cook things like rice, seafood, and spaghetti. It’s just about setting my mind to it.”

After recovering from surgery, she plans to attend Loyola University Chicago to study criminal investigation. She hopes to pursue a career in forensics and dreams of one day collecting evidence at crime scenes. 

Lopez and her fiancé, Christopher, are now planning a wedding in California and hope to tie the knot in 2026.  

Cancer’s toll on the heart

An estimated 18 million cancer survivors are currently in the United States and the number is expected to increase to nearly 22 million by 2030. Unfortunately, the same treatments that have improved outcomes for treating cancer can also damage the heart. 

According to the National Cancer Institute, adult survivors of childhood cancers are 10 times more likely to develop coronary disease and 15 times more likely to develop heart failure than their siblings. Treatment-related cardiovascular side effects – known as cardiotoxicities – are also common among survivors of adult cancers.

“When you think about life being unfair, Jessica was dealt a really difficult hand,” said Jonathan Rich, MD, a heart failure and heart transplantation cardiologist at Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute. “As an infant, Jessica was diagnosed with cancer and found a way to be a cancer survivor. But in her case, the treatment she needed to become a cancer survivor likely led to her developing heart failure. It feels really unfair. Unfortunately, we do see this and in her in case I think that’s exactly what happened.” 

The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute offer a collaborative Cardio-Oncology Program. The program provides seamless care between cardiology and oncology services for patients affected by cancer. 

To learn more about heart failure and transplant options, visit nm.org.

CHICAGO, IL – February 14, 2025 – Over the past two decades, the Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute (BCVI) has become a global destination for life-saving therapies, breakthrough procedures, and research that has transformed cardiovascular care. Founded on Valentine’s Day in 2005, BCVI was created with a generous gift from local philanthropist Neil G. Bluhm who wanted to help Northwestern Medicine meet the growing need for world-class cardiovascular care in Chicago and beyond. 

“I felt it would be important to the city that we have a great heart hospital instead of a situation where the wealthy were traveling elsewhere and everybody else was not getting great treatment,” said Bluhm. 

 After 20 years, with hundreds of thousands of patients treated and countless lives saved, Northwestern Medicine physicians, nurses, staff and patients will celebrate BCVI’s 20^thanniversary on February 14 during American Heart Month. 

 Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death, but breakthrough discoveries and new technologies are dramatically lowering that burden. To date, the BCVI team of more than 186 specialized cardiologists, cardiac and vascular surgeons have accomplished milestones such as:  

• Ranked among the top 10 cardiology, heart, and vascular programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for the last nine years
• Ranked among the top 20 hospitals in the world for cardiac surgery with over 900% growth in procedures since BCVI began
• Treated patients from at least 27 countries and all 50 states
• Seventh ranked patient-preferred hospital in the nation for heart care
• 95% patient satisfaction in 2024 
• Best heart failure survival in the nation
• Among the top 15 hospitals in the nation for heart attack survival
• First in the world to implant the Impella BTR heart pump
• Among the first in the nation to offer pulsed field ablation to treat atrial fibrillation  
• Secured $100 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health since 2020 
• Recruited more than 40 top-talent physicians over the last three years
• Home to three American Heart Association (AHA) Presidents
• A record six AHA Strategically Funded Research Networks totaling $25 million
• Home to three of the most highly cited scientific authors, top 1% in the world 

“This anniversary is a tremendous milestone for the Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute and underscores our commitment to our patients and the communities we serve,” said Howard Chrisman, MD, president and chief executive officer, Northwestern Memorial HealthCare. “Our steadfast commitment to grow and expand access to world-class heart care throughout the Chicagoland area has been and will always be a driving force for Northwestern Medicine.”

A gift from the heart 

In the early 2000’s, Bluhm was treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital for heart issues. On February 14, 2005, he generously donated a $10 million gift, and the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute was born. The gift facilitated the recruitment of renowned cardiothoracic surgeon Patrick M. McCarthy, MD, a world leader in cardiac surgery, with the goal of building a world-class heart and vascular program accessible to all Chicagoans. 

 Along with several other gifts over the years, in February 2022, Bluhm and the Bluhm Family Charitable Foundation announced a $45 million gift to establish the Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Heart Hospital at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The gift expands cardiac care capacity and addresses health equity by supporting under-resourced Chicago communities, including the soon-to-open Northwestern Medicine Bronzeville Outpatient Care Center. 

 “The transformation has been stunning. From a relatively small program we grew into a powerhouse with BCVI facilities across the region and growing every year. Mr. Bluhm’s generous gift allowed us to hire and train the best doctors and teams of care providers and rapidly adopt transformative new technologies and procedures,” said Dr. McCarthy, who is now the executive director of BCVI. 

Expanding care and saving more lives 

BCVI’s rapid growth can be attributed to its ability to recruit and train top-tier talent. Douglas Johnston, MD, surgical director of BCVI and chief of cardiac surgery, has been the force behind the recent meteoric rise of the cardiac surgery program. Since joining BCVI in 2022, Dr. Johnston has grown the program by a staggering 42%. BCVI performs about 2,750 cardiac surgeries per year, compared to 250 cases 20 years ago, and BCVI performs one of the highest volumes of surgical and transcatheter heart valve procedures in the country.

 “We’ve seen exceptional growth at our downtown campus and in our regional programs. Waiting for an appointment is one of the most frustrating things for a heart patient with a new diagnosis, and our goal is to decrease wait times and improve access for all patients,” said Dr. Johnston. 

 BCVI’s success has allowed the program to treat more patients and stimulate job growth in the Chicago area. In 2005, the institute had 300 employees and treated 1,000 new patients annually. Today, BCVI has 2,400 employees and treats 48,000 new patients each year.

 Anchored in downtown Chicago, BCVI has expanded across all Northwestern Medicine locations and is now integrated into nine Northwestern Medicine hospitals. This makes it possible for patients to receive most cardiovascular care in locations close to home, only traveling downtown for highly complex procedures. 

 “The landscape for heart failure treatment has transformed remarkably over the last two decades, offering patients more options and more hope than ever before. We have achieved the best heart failure survival rates in the U.S. for two consecutive years. This success is rooted in a highly integrated system of care, where patients receive state-of-the-art treatment close to home. We are now expanding this model across our network to ensure excellence in care for all our regional programs,” said Jane Wilcox, MD, associate chief of cardiology at BCVI.

 Taking the future to heart 

Through its partnership with Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, BCVI researchers are pushing the boundaries of cardiovascular treatments through ongoing clinical trials. Their discoveries drive advancements that lead to better therapies, minimally invasive procedures, quicker recovery times, and improved patient outcomes. 

• BCVI helped introduce a non-surgical valve replacement procedure for the sickest patients with aortic stenosis. 
• BCVI helped accelerate FDA approval for new technology to replace a leaky tricuspid valve through a catheter. 
• Clinical investigators helped secure FDA approval for blockbuster medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Jardiance. 
• The BCVI Clinical Trials Unit has more than 10,000 research study participants enrolled in 100 ongoing clinical trials.
• 3,100 cardiac and vascular manuscripts published over the last three years.
• Twelve national principal investigators represented in clinical trials.

 “Every breakthrough or technological advance began with a question, often at the bedside. From that curiosity spawns research and via research discovery ensues. It is the steady arc of relentless research that fuels best patient outcomes and we in the BCVI are on the leading edge of scientific discovery,” said Clyde W. Yancy, MD, MSc, chief of cardiology at BCVI and vice dean of health equity at Feinberg School of Medicine.

 Leveraging their advancements over the past 20 years, BCVI leaders are making strides towards innovations that will improve patient lives for generations to come, including: 

• The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) such as machine learning to identify patients with advanced heart failure and patients at risk of developing atrial fibrillation and heart disease
• Combating a sonographer shortage by using an algorithm to automate measurements on echocardiograms
• Studying whether using a smartwatch to monitor atrial fibrillation could alleviate lifelong reliance on blood thinners 
• Engineering human heart tissue to better understand a range of cardiovascular conditions 

 “When we started this journey 20 years ago, the iPhone hadn’t been invented, and today we use artificial intelligence to read all electrocardiograms. Replacing heart valves without surgery was science fiction, and now it is everyday practice. Thanks to Mr. Bluhm, and the talented team we have built, the next 20 years should be just as transformative as the last 20 years,” said Dr. McCarthy.

 For more information on BCVI and cardiovascular treatments, visit NM.org/heart. 

CHICAGO – Just three weeks before getting married, Annesley Clark (they/them/theirs) had to cancel their wedding. The 33-year-old from Chicago, Ill., had a life-threatening infection and a mass growing on their heart. Clark needed open-heart surgery right away.  

Because of the infection, the risks from surgery increased significantly and their outcome was uncertain. Clark and their partner, Christine Corso (they/them/theirs), were determined to say their vows before it was too late. 

The nursing staff at Northwestern Memorial Hospital had formed a special bond with the couple and despite not having much time, they pulled together a wedding in less than 24 hours.   

“Annesley is one of the most positive people I have ever met and constantly uplifts others,” said Tien Mai, a clinical nurse on 11W Feinberg at Northwestern Memorial. “They asked if it was possible to have a wedding the next day before surgery, and the moment I heard that, I made all the calls necessary. From blowing up balloons at the nurses' station to safely preparing them to walk down the aisle, my whole team made all the details perfect. Seeing Annesley smile as they walked down the aisle was the best feeling.” 

On October 9, one day before heart surgery, the nurses transformed the hospital waiting room into a wedding venue with balloons, decorations, flowers, and a makeshift altar. Clark’s close family, friends, and dozens of hospital staff gathered to celebrate their big day. 

“I am so grateful for the care that I’ve received from these doctors and nurses,” said Clark. “I have spent more than a third of the past 15 months at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Many of the nurses at our hospital wedding were invited to our planned wedding in November. We’ve built such a great relationship with these people, and I have come to feel so cared for and seen by them. They’ve seen me in times that are really rough and scary, and I’m so glad they got to witness the enormity of the joy today.” 

A race against the clock 

The wedding allowed Clark and Corso to enjoy a few hours of bliss during an otherwise unnerving time. While most couples look ahead to a honeymoon on their wedding night, Clark was preparing for open heart surgery.  

Benjamin Bryner, MD, a cardiac surgeon at Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, says he normally opts for a minimally invasive way to operate, but in Clark’s case, the mass on their heart was too big. Despite the infection and a suppressed immune system making Clark a poor candidate, open heart surgery was the only option.  

“We wanted to get this mass out as quickly as we could because we were worried about a bloodstream infection,” said Dr. Bryner. “The infection was not going to go away until we got the mass out. We have to try not to disturb other structures, and we don’t want pieces of the mass to break off and get sent to other parts of the body. So, we settled on opening the heart up and taking the mass out directly. The safest way to do that was through cardiopulmonary bypass, which is like a safety net that cardiac surgeons build for themselves. That allowed us to open the heart and salvage all of the blood that was coming out. We could then see this mass really clearly, lift it out of the heart, and then close it back up. Everything went very smoothly just like we had hoped.” 

Clark underwent surgery on October 10 and the mass was successfully removed. They spent a few weeks recovering in the hospital and are now enjoying their new married life with a healing heart.

The newlyweds are looking forward to their first holiday season as a married couple, with a lot to be thankful for.

To learn more about heart surgery and other cardiac treatments, visit nm.org.  

CHICAGO – After serving 21 years in the U.S. Army, Louis Smith’s heart only functioned at 10 percent. The father of three from Country Club Hills, Ill., had been visiting the Advanced Heart Failure Clinic at the Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center (JBVA) for about one year before his symptoms suddenly got worse. Just before Thanksgiving 2023, the then 65-year-old was told he needed a new heart.  

Louis was transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he waited just two weeks for his new heart. Before his transplant surgery on December 31, 2023, he wasn’t nervous, wasn’t scared, but did have one request for his surgeon.  

“Can you do me a favor? When you cut me, can you try to save the tattoo on my chest?” said Smith. “It’s a saying that me and my late father used to say. We would listen to ‘I did it my way’ by Frank Sinatra. That’s our saying. If you can please not destroy the tattoo, I’ll be just fine.” 

Benjamin Bryner, MD, a cardiac surgeon at Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, made sure both the incision and stiches would preserve every inch of Smith’s tattoo.  

“Mr. Smith had some tattoos that we were eager to save as best we could,” said Dr. Bryner. “There’s no way to do a transplant without leaving a scar behind, but we did our best to make sure the tattoos would at least line up and we were happy with the final results.”

Serving His Country and Needing a New Heart

Smith enlisted in the Army when he was just 17 years old, following in the footsteps of his father. His more than two decades of service took him through tours in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Germany, and Korea, but feeling his heart begin to fail was something this soldier was not prepared for.  

“I used to wake up every morning around two o’clock,” said Smith. “It felt like somebody was either choking me or standing on my chest. And I couldn’t breathe. It was like somebody just turned off my air.” 

Smith suffered from cardiac amyloidosis, an underdiagnosed disease that causes heart failure. It occurs when protein builds up and is deposited in tissues where it isn’t supposed to be. This can lead to organ damage, notably in the heart. Cardiac amyloidosis impacts up to 25 percent of people over the age of 80, with African American patients at a higher risk.  

During his time in the Army, Smith was active and never had any issues with his health. He was 63 years old by the time he learned about the genetic condition he’s had since birth. Because his case was so advanced, not only did he need a heart transplant, but Sarah Chuzi, MD, a heart failure and heart transplantation specialist at Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute and JBVA, recommended he be moved up on the list.  

“I went to visit him in the hospital and noticed he was short of breath just walking from his bed to the bathroom,” said Dr. Chuzi. “That was so out of character for him, so unlike him. I could tell that he really felt like things were changing rapidly. So, we recommended that he not only be listed for heart transplant but that he be listed at a very high status which gave him priority on the heart transplant list.”

Almost one year later, Smith is doing well and is back to his old routine. He enjoys spending time with his wife of 47 years, Jacquelyn, his three children, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Smith is an avid biker, and often takes cross-country trips with friends on his motorcycle. He’s even taken one trip with his new heart.  

“I’m a soldier and a heart transplant survivor,” said Smith. “And I love my new heart.” 

More about the Advanced Heat Failure Clinic at the Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center 

For more than 77 years, Northwestern Medicine has partnered with the Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center (JBVA) in Chicago. Medical residents from the hospital system rotate through the VA clinic during their medical training, and it’s the longest-running academic affiliation in the VA system.  

In 2022, Sarah Chuzi, MD, a heart failure and heart transplantation specialist at Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, established an Advanced Heart Failure Clinic at JBVA. Dr. Chuzi rotated through JBVA during her medical training and since then, she’s dedicated her career to helping veterans.

“The JBVA is very unique,” said Dr. Chuzi. “We serve about 62,000 veterans and about 70 percent of those veterans identify as Black. That is a population that is very underserved for a number of reasons. They face a lot of health barriers but also a lot of structural barriers to health like systemic racism, a lot of trauma, and PTSD. The combination of all these factors really does adversely affect their health.”

The clinic offers evidence-based heart failure care that includes medical therapy, devices, and other diagnostic tests and procedures. Patients from the heart failure clinic are often referred to Northwestern Medicine for specialized surgeries and treatments. Dr. Chuzi and her team will soon participate in heart failure clinical trials out of JBVA, including ones looking at new medications to improve patient outcomes.

To learn more about heart failure treatment options, visit nm.org. 

CHICAGO — Northwestern Memorial Hospital is the first hospital in Illinois and among the first in the country to offer pulsed field ablation, a revolutionary advancement in the field of cardiac electrophysiology. This minimally invasive approach to treating atrial fibrillation (AFib) offers patients improved safety and efficacy compared to traditional therapies. The procedure occurred on Tuesday, March 5. 

“Pulsed field ablation is an exciting advancement in the treatment of AFib because it’s very fast and very effective,” says Bradley Knight, MD, medical director of cardiac electrophysiology at Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute . “This approach allows us to deliver very high voltage, very brief electrical shocks to ablate the tissue causing the arrythmia. It seems to be very selective for this tissue, so that it avoids injury to structures behind there, like the esophagus, the phrenic nerve, the lung tissue and other organs very close to that tissue.”

Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is the most common type of heart arrythmia impacting up to 5 million people in the United States, a number that is anticipated to reach 12.1 million by 2030.

“There’s really an epidemic of atrial fibrillation worldwide because aging is one of the causes of the condition,” says Dr. Knight. “Obesity is another common cause, so with these epidemics themselves, AFib is increasingly common.”

The heart rhythm disorder is characterized by fast and irregular heartbeats, or arrythmias, from the upper chambers of the heart. AFib can significantly impact patients' quality of life and increase the risk of stroke, blood clots and other complications. Symptoms include can lead to a variety of symptoms include shortness of breath, chest pain, fatigue and heart palpitations.

“Patients who are symptomatic and have recurrent episodes of atrial fibrillation that cannot be controlled with medications are good candidates for pulsed field ablation,” says Dr. Knight. “This new energy source may allow us to not only do the procedure more quickly, more safely, and more effectively, it may also allow us to ablate a more extensive area in the atrium then we can currently do with thermal energy sources.”

Unlike conventional catheter ablation techniques that use heat or cold to create scar tissue and disrupt abnormal electrical signals in the heart, pulsed field ablation delivers precisely controlled electric fields to target and ablate tissue responsible for AFib. This innovative approach offers several potential advantages, including reduced risk of complications, shorter procedure times, and improved outcomes for patients.

The approach was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January after extensive clinical trials. Northwestern Medicine participated in two of the clinical trials that lead to FDA approval.

"We are thrilled to be the first hospital in Illinois to offer pulsed field ablation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation and the only Chicago center involved in the research," says Dr. Knight. “This innovative technology represents a significant advancement in the field of electrophysiology and underscores our commitment to providing the highest standard of care to individuals living with AFib."

While pulsed field ablation might not be the right choice for every patient, the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute’s Center for Heart Rhythm Disorders offers a comprehensive range of therapies for AFib and other arrythmias. For more information, visit heart.nm.org.

B-ROLL/SOUNDBITES/PHOTOS: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/pdtsa2752cxv74liba534/h?rlkey=ddqze6m5gw1ge97r4kud5ao65&dl=0.

CHICAGO — When Michael DiLillo’s phone rang early on a Saturday morning, he was not prepared for the life-altering news awaiting him on the other end. The previous day he had undergone a series of cardiac tests and now his cardiologist was calling on the weekend.

“We were home babysitting our grandchildren when I saw he was calling. I remember him saying ‘I need to tell you something important. I hope you’re sitting down.’ That’s when I knew we were facing something serious,” recalled DiLillo, 69, a resident of St. Charles, Ill., in Chicago’s western suburbs.

For several months, DiLillo had noticed a slight tightness in his chest. He saw several physicians who told him he was going through the normal process of aging, but he wasn’t convinced.

“I was experiencing some chest issues – not severe or to the point where it limited my activity, but I knew something wasn’t quite right,” said DiLillo, who kept searching for answers. “When I got an appointment with Dr. Severino, he ordered tests and figured it out very quickly.”

When Michael J. Severino, MD, cardiologist at Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, called DiLillo on that Saturday morning, he informed him that the symptoms were the result of a large mass encroaching into his heart. He told his patient to head to the emergency department quickly to undergo further testing.

“When I saw the test results, I had to take a few minutes and decide how I was going to handle this because it was an earth-shattering result for the patient,” said Dr. Severino, who practices at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital and Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital. “I’ve been in practice almost 30 years and I’ve never seen this type of tumor in this location.”

The tumor was growing into and causing damage to DiLillo’s heart. Treatment would require extensive surgery to not only remove the mass, but to also repair the damage to his heart. He consulted with surgeons at multiple hospitals, but none were willing to take on the surgery because of its complexity and risk.

“No one wanted to the do the surgery because they thought it was too risky. One surgeon said, ‘I can’t tell you with a clear conscience that you’ll survive surgery,’” said DiLillo. “I was scared beyond belief. I told [my wife] Marianne that we needed to put our financial house in order. I thought I was going to die.”

That was until he got to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. DiLillo first saw Samuel S. Kim, MD, thoracic surgeon at Canning Thoracic Institute, who brought his case to the hospital’s tumor board, a multidisciplinary team of experts who meet to discuss complex cancer patient cases and determine the best treatment plan.

“The patient was running on borrowed time and surgery was his only option for survival,” explained Dr. Kim. “At Northwestern Medicine, our surgeons are known for taking on the most difficult cases and we knew we had the right team in place to help Michael.”

After discussing DiLillo’s tumor, the tumor board agreed it would require the expertise of a cardiac surgeon given the damage to the heart, which is when Christopher K. Mehta, MD, cardiac surgeon at Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, was brought into the case.

“I’ve seen a handful of these tumors, and this was by far the most aggressive appearing cancer, especially from what we could tell from the imaging and the echocardiogram,” said Dr. Mehta. “The sheer size of the tumor, which was the size of a football, was causing it to invade the structures of the heart, which made it particularly challenging to deal with.”

Despite the tumor’s size and complexity of the surgery it would require, Dr. Mehta agreed to operate, but warned DiLillo and his family that it would not come without risk.

“The tumor was invading and compressing the pulmonary valve and the pulmonary artery, which move blood from the heart to the lungs,” said Dr. Mehta. “Once we removed the entire tumor, we would then be faced with having to reconstruct the heart in a way that he could live a normal life. It was a very involved surgical case.”

The surgical team operated for 12 hours removing the entire tumor then repairing the damage it caused to the structures of his heart, including rebuilding the pulmonary valve. For DiLillo’s family, the wait was agony.

“My kids were there with me, and we were all scared. It was a rollercoaster. We had ourselves prepared that he wasn’t going to make it,” said Marianne DiLillo, Michael’s wife of 41 years. “When Dr. Mehta came out and said everything went well, we couldn’t believe it. He let us all hug him and was so positive about the surgery but told us the recovery was still going to be a long journey.”

For Dr. Mehta and team, the relief was shared especially after seeing the tumor’s true size once it was removed. The tumor weighed more than 1.5 pounds, which is more than double the weight of the average human heart.

“When we opened Michael’s chest, you couldn’t see his heart because the tumor was so massive. We all breathed a sigh of relief when this surgery was complete,” said Dr. Mehta. “Michael still had a long road ahead of him, but we gave him an opportunity to keep fighting.”

Following surgery, DiLillo remained in the intensive care unit (ICU) for five weeks then transferred to an acute rehab facility for more than two months.

“From the time we had the surgery planned until several weeks after was a blur to me,” said DiLillo. “Having Marianne by my side and making big decisions was insurmountable because I could have never been able to function on my own.”

Primary tumors of the heart are extremely rare with malignant cardiac tumors being even more uncommon. Less than 10% of all primary heart tumors are cancerous affecting approximately 8,000 people worldwide. By comparison, breast cancer impacts more than 240,000 people each year in the United States alone. When cancers do occur in and around the heart, most often the cancer started elsewhere and spread to the heart.

“When the pathologists got back to us about the type of tumor, they were very surprised to find that it was a liposarcoma, which is a rare type of cancer that starts in soft tissues,” said Dr. Mehta. “While Michael previously had a liposarcoma in his leg more than ten years earlier, the pathologist felt this was a primary tumor meaning it had started in the chest and then invaded into the heart. These represent about one percent of cancers of the heart, so it’s a very rare diagnosis.”

While DiLillo’s recovery has been long and challenging, he continues to grow stronger every day and recently enjoyed celebrating his first Christmas since the surgery with Marianne, their three grown children and their spouses and five grandchildren with number six on the way in March.

“You get a whole new perspective in how important every day is – you don’t want to waste time, you don’t know how much time you have,” said DiLillo when reflecting on the surgery and his recovery. “I have a second lease on life. I feel blessed that we found the right people who could help us. Dr. Severino found it when others said I was fine. Dr. Mehta took it on when others said, ‘I can’t help you.’ Northwestern saved my life.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD B-ROLL, SOUNDBITES & PHOTOS

After completing boot camp at Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, Ill., Patterson was stationed at the Naval Air Station in Alameda, Calif. With three western Pacific tours on the USS Carl Vinson, Patterson had the unique experience of living on an aircraft carrier while visiting more places in four years than many people visit in a lifetime.

“I’m very proud of my time in the Navy and very thankful for the experiences it gave me,” said Patterson, who now lives in Park Forest, Illinois. “Those tours gave me the opportunity to see the world. We went everywhere from Hawaii to Australia, Singapore, the Philippines and more. It was like a dream vacation while living on a city at sea.”

When Patterson discharged from the Navy, he returned to California for 10 years before returning to federal service taking a role with the United States Postal Service (USPS). He worked for USPS for nearly 25 years when he was offered a promotion that would bring him to Minnesota. A year and half after his move, Patterson started to notice changes in his health.

“It came on very suddenly. I was working in the mailroom and started feeling short of breath when walking just short distances from one side of the room to the other. I knew something was wrong,” said Patterson, who left work and drove to the nearest urgent care clinic.  

After being told he needed a higher level of care, Patterson drove himself to the emergency department at the nearest academic medical center in Minneapolis. He would not see the outside of a hospital again for three weeks.

“I lost consciousness in the ER that night and when I woke up the next morning, they told me I had 13 TIAs, or miniature strokes, overnight,” said Patterson. “The doctors told me that these were warning signs and the big one will come if I didn’t seek treatment immediately.”

Patterson’s health continued to decline, and he spent the next two months in and out of the hospital. He was soon diagnosed as being in congestive heart failure (CHF) with his heart functioning at less than five percent. His best option for survival would be a heart transplant or left ventricular assist device (LVAD).

He made the decision to return to Chicago where he had family support from his sister. They drove from Minnesota directly to Jesse Brown VA Medical Center where he would meet Sarah E. Chuzi, MD, cardiologist at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center and at Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, who had recently established an onsite advanced heart failure clinic for veterans at Jesse Brown. Patterson would be in and out of the hospital for the next three months while his medical team assessed his condition.

“Dwayne got sick very quickly. When I first saw him in clinic, he could barely get onto the exam table without shortness of breath,” said Dr. Chuzi, who first began caring for patients at Jesse Brown VA during her medical residency. “If you have taken care of a veteran, or met a veteran, you know that they are very stoic, and they are unlikely to complain. So, I knew, just looking in his eyes, that he was very sick and really scared and that he needed an intervention quickly.”

Dr. Chuzi and a multidisciplinary team of Northwestern Medicine and VA clinicians began the process of evaluating Patterson for a heart transplant. They soon determined that he was likely to benefit, so he was added to the heart transplant waiting list in March. Patterson was too sick to go home, so he was admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital to wait for a donor heart, which came in April 2023.

“I remember the day the call came. I was in the hospital and not feeling well, then they told me, ‘We found you a heart and we want to schedule surgery,’” recalls Patterson. “You know, I never feared. I’m a man of faith, which guided me. The sickness had just come on so fast. But I knew I had the best medical team at one of the best hospitals for a heart transplant and at the VA. I was ready.”

The advanced heart failure collaboration between Northwestern Medicine and Jesse Brown VA Medical Center is a continuation of a longstanding relationship between the two organizations. For more than 77 years, medical residents from Northwestern have rotated through the VA during their medical training, the longest of such academic affiliation in the VA system.

“The VA system has been involved in the training of two thirds of the physicians in the United States and the partnership between Jesse Brown and Northwestern is where this all began,” said Sarah Unterman, MD, Chief of Staff at  Jesse Brown VA Medical Center. “Dwayne’s experience and the collaboration between our VA clinicians and the Northwestern Medicine teams exemplifies the value that these partnerships bring to our veterans and to the physicians who are so privileged to care for them.”

Dr. Chuzi credits her medical training at Jesse Brown as the inspiration for wanting to dedicate her career to caring for veterans.

“The VA has always had a special place in my heart. Mainly because of the patients, the veterans,” said Dr. Chuzi, who has veterans in her family. “They are so resilient and strong, and they have served our country. They are incredibly deserving of good care.”

The veteran patient population faces many health care challenges due to social determinants of health, such as lack of access to transportation, neighborhood crime, financial insecurity, and housing instability, which can have a negative impact on their health. They are also a patient population with high rates of risk factors for heart failure such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

“Heart failure in general is extremely burdensome to the population at large, but especially to our veterans because these risk factors for heart failure are so prevalent,” said Dr. Chuzi. “This is a population where there is a ton of advanced disease, but if you don’t have someone necessarily who is specifically trained in looking for patients with this disease, you might not find it. We’re hopeful that our program will help more veterans get the advanced treatments they need.”

In less than a year, more than 10 patients have been referred to Northwestern Medicine from the Jesse Brown VA for advanced heart failure surgical therapies, with eight patients receiving LVADs in just six months.

While Patterson faced some initial challenges adapting to life with his new heart, today he is feeling better than he has in years. He has since retired from the postal service and enjoying time reconnecting with his friends and family in the Chicago area. His heart donor and their family are never far from his mind.

“Like my sister says, someone died for you to live. So, I always had to keep that in the back of my mind,” said Patterson. “I would just say thank you for this blessing. I have a second chance at life now.”

Published in JTCVS Open, the Acupuncture After Heart Surgery (ACU-Heart) study found that acupuncture is practical, well-tolerated and has clinical benefit for patients who have undergone heart valve surgery, including lower rates of post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF).

“Heart surgery is a lifesaving procedure, but it can contribute to physical discomfort and surgical side effects like atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat), while also having a psychological impact on the patient” says lead investigator, Kim L. Feingold, PhD, a cardiac psychologist and the founder and director of Cardiac Behavioral Medicine at the Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “We know that the mind and body are connected, so we’re always looking for ways to improve the patient experience and reduce the emotional consequences of heart disease, which can include depression and anxiety.”

Acupuncture is a component of traditional Chinese medicine that has been used for more than 2,500 years and is believed to stimulate the nervous system. The practice involves inserting thin needles through the skin at specific points along the body to influence the flow of energy and promote healing. Acupuncture has been shown to have pain-relieving, anti-inflammatory and anti-nausea effects.

In the ACU-Heart pilot trial, consenting patients undergoing valve surgery with no prior history of atrial fibrillation (AFib), were randomly sorted into two groups. One group received standard care after surgery and the other received daily acupuncture intervention from the day after surgery until discharge.

“The acupuncture was delivered to each patient in their hospital room by a licensed acupuncturist from Northwestern Medicine Osher Center for Integrative Health,” explains Dr. Feingold. “The acupuncturists coordinated timing with patients and medical providers to ensure that acupuncture was not disruptive to routine medical care.”

Dr. Feingold says that she and fellow researchers wanted to answer three main questions with the ACU-Heart study:

1. Would patients embrace acupuncture during such a significant event as heart surgery?
2. Is it logistically feasible in a cardiac surgery setting to provide daily acupuncture to patients? 
3. Does acupuncture impact medical outcomes such as AFib and post-surgical symptoms such as pain, nausea, stress and anxiety?

The findings were positive on all three fronts.

“We learned that acupuncture after open heart surgery is feasible in this fast-paced environment — even in the intensive care unit the day after surgery — and was well tolerated by patients with no adverse effects,” says Dr. Feingold. “The majority of patients had no prior history with acupuncture, demonstrating their openness to receive integrative therapies after surgery. Overall, patients reported that it was a pleasant and positive aspect of their cardiovascular surgery recovery.”

She notes that some of the nurses commented that patients were more relaxed and calmer after acupuncture. “In a future study, we can fold in measuring the impact that acupuncture intervention has on the care team,” says Dr. Feingold.

From the study, the research team found that acupuncture after heart surgery was linked to:

• Lower rates of post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF) by 58%. Patients in the study who received acupuncture had a 14% incidence of POAF compared with 33% in the standard control group.
• Reduced pain, nausea, stress and anxiety. Based on patient reporting, these surgical side effects were reduced with each acupuncture session.
• Less time spent in intensive care. Patients who received acupuncture spent about seven fewer hours in the intensive care unit than study participants who didn’t receive acupuncture.
• A reduced need for antiarrhythmic medication at the time of discharge by 68%. Approximately 10% of patients who received acupuncture were on a heart rhythm medication (amiodarone) at the time of discharge compared to 27% in the standard control group. 

“Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia impacting patients after heart surgery and comes with the increased risk of stroke, heart failure and abnormal blood pressure. Managing Afib and other postoperative symptoms is a key to achieving good outcomes in cardiac surgery,” says co-investigator Patrick M. McCarthy, MD, cardiac surgeon and executive director of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute. “While this is a small study, it shows significant promise and we’re excited by the idea that there’s a potential intervention that’s inexpensive, accessible, low risk and it’s well-tolerated by patients.”

Dr. Feingold and Dr. McCarthy agree that a larger, multicenter trial with patients undergoing a broader range of heart procedures is needed to better understand the impact of acupuncture on the severity and timing of POAF, as well as the post-operative physical and emotional symptoms such as pain, nausea, depression and anxiety.

“It's exciting to demonstrate the potential role of integrative therapies like acupuncture in the cardiovascular setting — including after cardiac surgery,” says Dr. Feingold. “There's more to be done, but the ACU-Heart pilot trial certainly demonstrates significant promise.”

The study was funded through a philanthropic gift from the Malkin Family Foundation and approved by the Northwestern University Institutional Review Board (#STU00201408).

B-ROLL, SOUNDBITES & PHOTOS: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/wl524jvxceyuhcil88lvw/h?rlkey=3l4e4uhrl67ufqdstpy4r1owi&dl=0

STUDY LINK: Acupuncture after valve surgery is feasible and shows promise in reducing postoperative atrial fibrillation: The ACU-Heart pilot trial - JTCVS Open