As he recounts the day he collapsed in his home in Guatemala, William Stixrud, 80, father of five, a retired civil engineer and former ambassador to the U.S., gets understandably emotional as he ponders the decision that was facing his large, closely knit family. Mr. Stixrud suffered a “type A” dissection, a life-threatening tear in the ascending part of the aorta, just as it branches off the heart.
“I fell in the bathroom,” recalls Mr. Stixrud, whose five daughters and other relatives help run a coffee and macadamia agricultural business. “I don't know how I got to the Guatemalan hospital. They did what they could do with the equipment that they have in Guatemala. They said, ‘Well, this is as far as we can go.’ They say: ‘Well, go to the Baptist Healthcare (Baptist Health South Florida).’ I can just imagine my family -- the most difficult part for them was to decide what to do. It must have been very difficult for them to decide.”
With the assistance of Baptist Health International’s Coordination of Care team, Mr. Stixrud’s family arranged prompt transfer to Baptist Health Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute, where a team of specialists quite familiar with the complex heart surgery required for a type A dissection was at the ready.
Mehrdad Ghoreishi, M.D., co-director of Aortic Surgery and medical director of Cardiac Surgery Research at Baptist Health Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute, has revolutionized surgical treatments of the aorta while co-director for the Center for Aortic Disease at the University of Maryland Medical System. He joined the Institute earlier this year.
Mehrdad Ghoreishi, M.D.
Dr. Ghoreishi explains that Mr. Stixrud suffered cardiac arrest at the Guatemala hospital during his sternotomy, the procedure that creates access to the heart by cutting through the breastbone.
“They put in some drainage tubes -- and because they noticed that they could not handle this catastrophe -- they transferred the patient to us,” said Dr. Ghoreishi. “When he arrived here at Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute, we transferred him to the operating room right away for a complex aortic procedure. We did an open-heart operation, and total aortic arch replacement and aortic root operation.”
Rogelio E. Ribas, M.D., corporate vice president of Baptist Health International, explains that his team is always building relationships abroad to be of service for patients requiring quality of care at Baptist Health, as Mr. Stixrud’s case exemplifies. “We knew that if we couldn't get him here to the right doctor at the right time, we wouldn't be able to save his life,” said Dr. Ribas. “I had a whole team behind me expediating this case.”
When Mr. Stixrud arrived at Baptist Hospital, Leo Huynh, D.O., chief of Emergency Medicine; Ivan Espaillat, M.D., internal medicine specialist; Javier Perez-Fernandez, M.D., head of the ICU (Intensive Care Unit), and their team were ready to assist Dr. Ghoreishi with the patient's arrival.
Because of the relationships that Baptist Health International has built over 30 years of working with physicians overseas, a well-renowned doctor from Guatemala contacted us about Mr. Stixrud’s case, explained Dr. Ribas.
“Being a tertiary referring facility with physicians of the caliber of Dr. Ghoreishi is one of the many reasons people choose Baptist Health International. We are the leader in quality care and cutting-edge technology. We offer everything you need, from round-the-clock personalized care to hassle-free travel and treatment coordination,” said Dr. Ribas.
Dr. Ghoreishi has achieved international prominence in both open surgery and minimally invasive catheter-based treatments of aortic disease, including endovascular treatment of ascending aorta, aortic arch and aortic root.
At the Institute, Mr. Stixrud underwent a total aortic arch replacement and aortic root operation. The aortic arch is a vital segment of the aorta, the body’s largest artery that helps distribute blood to the head and upper extremities. The arch sits over the heart between the ascending and descending aorta. The aortic root is located where the aorta attaches to the heart.
Dr. Ghoreishi has helped advanced a new therapy for type A dissection of the aortic arch. The procedure involves implanting a stented graft into the descending aorta, and replacing the entire aortic arch with a 4-branched vascular graft. The goal is to eliminate the “false lumen” in the descending thoracic aorta and improve long-term outcomes. A false lumen is a new channel that forms when blood enters the middle layer of the aortic wall through a tear.
“He (Mr. Stixrud) is going to do fine,” said Dr. Ghoreishi. “He is full of energy and he already sent me a picture hiking with his family. It makes my day -- so that I come to work again the next day and do another complex operation.”
Mr. Stixrud is very grateful for the expertise of Dr. Ghoreishi and his team at the Institute.
“The recovery has been very fast,” he said. “I’m able to walk and eat and take a bath by myself. I’m very lucky to have somebody with such experience in this procedure. It never passed through my mind that life has a moment to finish. Now, I think a little different. I'm going to see if we can take some trips with my wife and my family.”
Baptist Health International offers a full range of services for international patients. For inquiries or to schedule an appointment, call 786-596-2373 or email International@BaptistHealth.net.
To refer a patient, call 786-596-1230 or visit BaptistHealth.net/CardiacSurgery.
