Celebrating a Birthday After a Lifesaving Surgery

Stamford resident Dodanim Solis's 30th birthday was an especially momentous one — he lived to see it. Last Thursday night, then 29-year-old Solis arrived at the Stamford Hospital Emergency Department suffering from chest pain. Prior to experiencing the chest pain, he had felt a shortness of breath for several days, but did not think much of it. Solis had never been diagnosed with any previous cardiac conditions.

A CT-scan revealed an aneurysm in his aorta, which was leaking — a lifethreatening emergency. Aortic dissection is a tear in the wall of the aorta that causes blood to flow between the layers of the wall of the aorta and force the layers apart. Aortic dissections resulting in rupture have an 80 percent mortality rate, and 50 percent of patients die before they even reach the hospital.

The patient was immediately rushed to surgery. Dr. Michael Coady, chief of cardiac surgery, and his team spent 10 hours replacing the patient's entire aortic root (also called a "Modified Bentall procedure"). Within 24 hours, the patient was sitting in a chair and able to celebrate his 30th birthday with his family.

» Learn More about Dr. Michael Coady, Stamford Hospital Chief of Cardiac Surgery

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