ELYRIA, Ohio — A Lorain County hospital is expanding access to specialized cardiac care, bringing advanced heart procedures closer to home for residents.
For 78-year-old David Bogstad of North Ridgeville, the new Structural Heart Program at University Hospitals Harrington Heart and Vascular Institute Elyria Medical Center made a critical difference in his recovery after a heart attack earlier this year.
"On March 10th, I had a heart attack," Bogstad said.
Bogstad, who's had heart troubles in the past, had been experiencing warning signs before the most recent heart attack, including waking up gasping for air and feeling chest pain.
He said he saw several doctors before the heart attack, but tests didn't find anything treatable.
"You get pain up through your chest, in your neck and burning and sometimes the pain radiates down an arm or something, your jaw hurts," Bogstad said.
After his most recent heart attack, he said doctors discovered he had a complete blockage in the artery on the right side of his heart. In June, he became the first patient to undergo a procedure as part of UH Elyria's new Structural Heart Program. It's for patients with conditions that affect the heart’s valves, walls, chambers, or muscles, according to UH.
Dr. Vinicius Esteves, an interventional cardiologist who leads the program, explained that these minimally invasive procedures avoid open-chest surgery.
"We don't open the chest, we usually use a small tube through the groin and we can go through the valve and replace it," Esrtves said. "We can replace their heart valves without general anesthesia, we do it with local anesthesia and just some conscious sedation."
The program brings advanced cardiac techniques typically found at major medical centers to community hospitals.
Esteves noted the importance of this specialty care.
"Heart valve issues are the number one cause of death in the United States," he said.
Bogstad had a transcatheter aortic valve replacement, also known as TAVR.
He said having access to this specialized care just three miles from home instead of traveling 30 miles to downtown Cleveland was a significant benefit.
"It was wonderful and it was part of the deciding factor," Bogstad said.
Just two days after his procedure, Bogstad resumed a daily walking routine in his neighborhood.
"When I first started out from the surgery I was walking pretty slow, but I'm already back up to full speed," Bogstad said.
The daily walks, which stretch two to three miles, are an important part of his routine.
"For one thing it's my quiet time," he said.
Esteves, who came to Lorain County from Brazil specifically to start this program, has been doing outreach since February and has completed several procedures since the first one in June.
UH Lake West in Willoughby is another community hospital now performing these advanced cardiac procedures.
