Stony Brook, N.Y. — A man has undergone an unusual surgical combination that involved repairing five areas of his heart in a single operation.
Salvatore Tomasi, 69, of Blue Point on Long Island, completed his rehabilitation Wednesday following the surgery on Dec. 19 at Stony Brook University Hospital.
"I'm grateful to be alive," he said at a hospital news conference.
Tomasi arrived at the hospital suffering from apparent congestive heart failure and abnormal heartbeats.
Dr. Irvin B. Krukenkamp, chief of cardiothoracic surgery and director of the new Heart Center at Stony Brook, said Tomasi had a series of problems requiring a bypass, repair to his aortic valve and correction of atrial fibrillation. Two more problems were discovered during the 3 1/2-hour surgery a leaky tricuspid valve and a hole between the two upper chambers of the heart.
All five procedures are common when performed separately, but combining them into one operation is unusual.
"To my knowledge, no other surgeon has ever attempted to surgically cure three serious heart defects at once before, and repairing five at once is unheard of, uniquely complicated and challenging," Krukenkamp said.
The five procedures were: a single-vessel bypass graft to relieve a blocked coronary artery; replacement of a damaged aortic valve; patching a hole between the upper chambers of the heart; repairing a leaky tricuspid valve to restore proper blood flow in the right side of the heart; and treatment of atrial fibrillation.
A new technology using a microwave radio device to correct abnormal electrical impulses causing arrhythmia also was used.
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