Future Risk Managed with Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator
PITTSBURGH–In his first chance to say thank to the first responders who saved his life three weeks ago, a Robert Morris University student got and gave out a lot of hugs and hand shakes. Ryan Collins is a theatre major whose life story took a dramatic turn when he collapsed on West End Stage during a rehearsal three weeks ago.
But Leah Zahner and Lisa Elliot were there. “I checked three places and was like this boy has no pulse,” said Elliot, who is a dancer. She performed the chest compressions while Zahner performed mouth to mouth. Both took CPR classes many years ago.
Then, Pittsburgh paramedics Michael Hill and Mary Kovac arrived on the scene. They managed to shock his heart back into a weak rhythm. They were instrumental to Collins' survival, sustaining him until they made it to The Gerald McGinniss Cardiovascular Institute at Allegheny General Hospital.
That’s where emergency room Dr. Ankur Doshi used induced mild therapeutic hypothermia--“cooling the body down to 92 to 91degrees Fahrenheit for a 24 hour period,” he explains. “We managed a lot of other complications that happen after cardiac arrest, in a prospective manner.” Collins was stabilized for 24 hours, and then put on a heart/lung bypass machine. His heart was still not functioning properly so his doctors went with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). “It will shock his heart back into a normal rhythm immediately if he should go into a funny rhythm,” said Dr. Doshi.
When they brought Collins into the ER they gave him a 15 to 20 percent chance of survival. They said his case was that severe. But the doctors, the two women who responded first, the paramedics and the cooling mechanism saved his life.
As for his prognosis, doctors say there’s no structural damage to the heart, no structural damage to the arteries or veins. He should live a normal life.
“I’ve been healthy all my life,” said Collins. “I’ve never missed a day of school in my life. So it's very shocking to me.”
But Collins says he has high hopes for his future-- he would someday love to hit it big on Broadway.
-Adapted from report on KDKA. For more information, click here: http://kdka.com/health/Ryan.Collins.heart.2.943809.html
For more information about hypothermia, click here.
For more information about ICD therapy, click here.