Angelia Grey had a history of passing out but last year it started happening more frequently.
“I was getting dizzy and blacking out,” Grey said. “In the beginning maybe like twice a month, then every three or four days.”
The reason she was passing out was a mystery but her blood pressure was extremely high (265/195) so she knew it had to do with her heart.
“Her heart muscle looked abnormally thick,” said Dr. Wahaj Aman, interventional cardiologist Memorial Hermann Katy.
Dr. Aman suspected hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which was confirmed with a cardiac MRI.
“So heart’s obviously a pump; heart’s job is to get blood off to the rest of the body,” said Dr. Daniel Hermann, interventional cardiologist at Memorial Hermann. “This one part of her heart had grown really, really thick and it was actually blocking blood flow out of the heart... There’s lots of medicines that are being developed here. There’s surgical ways of treating it and by surgery we mean basically... opening the chest up and then cutting out that piece of muscle tissue.”
That’s where the doctors basically planned a heart attack, deliberately, to one part of the heart.
“What we ended up doing was this catheter-based way of treating it, where we actually identify the artery that feeds that particular area of the muscle and then inject alcohol to it,” said Dr. Hermann, “Inducing a heart attack in that particular spot. It’s a very, very targeted heart attack. "
Since the team worked together, utilizing their expertise, Grey recovered with the best outcome.
“It’s a huge team. Everybody kind of puts their head together and says, ‘okay, we think this makes the most sense’ and then proceeding in that way,” Dr. Hermann said.
“This is a genetic disease. So it’s not the run of the mill, you know?” Dr. Aman said. “It has to be something you’re looking out for.”
Dr. Aman said most of the time this condition reveals itself in adulthood and it some cases causes sudden cardiac death, which is why it’s critical to speak up when something doesn’t seem right.
“Discomfort, tightness, pressure... talk to your doctor,” Aman said.
“I’m so grateful that they saved my life,” Grey said.
This story is a reminder of the importance of heart health and the innovative treatments available today. If you’re experiencing any unusual symptoms, don’t hesitate to seek medical advice.
