Patient Stories
Get inspired with the Miami Valley Hospital (MVH) Medical Imaging patient stories.
Donna Hoskins: A Working Mother
Donna Hoskins was 34, a mother of four from Middletown, Ohio and attending nursing school at Miami University. All in all, her life was fairly typical of most working mothers today. One Sunday she had spent the day at her daughter's basketball tournament. After a prolonged stay in a loud gym, she didn't think much of the headache she had when she left. At about 6 p.m. that evening, she headed to her uncle's machine shop in Middletown to do some bookkeeping for him. Alone in the shop, as she typed at the computer, her headache turned from painful to unpredictable. The pain surged through her head like nothing she had ever felt. There was also a strange pressure on the back of her neck.
Her first thought was that something had slipped out of place in her neck. But the pain got worse. She called her husband, Shawn, who rushed her to the local hospital. The physician immediately spotted bleeding in an artery that supplies blood to the brain, a common spot for aneurysms to develop. She felt she was in shock, but still had the sense of mind to ask to be transferred to MVH.
Donna didn't realize the severity until CareFlight was called and she saw her husband Shawn was so visibly shaken. Once at MVH, the radiologists using the latest equipment were immediately able to spot the aneurysm and call in Dr. William Protzer, Dayton's only interventional neuroradiologist. He determined that Donna was a good candidate for a less-invasive procedure called endovascular coiling, which has a high rate of success. The traditional method of treating an aneurysm involves removing part of the skull. With endovascular coiling, a platinum coil was directed into a catheter in an artery in Donna's leg.
During the process Dr. Protzer had a view of the aneurysm from different angles and even inside the sac. Improved coiling technology and imaging allows physicians to guide the coil for minimal irritation of other healthy tissue. The coil creates a clot that blocks the aneurysm. This procedure is being performed only at MVH.
Donna recovered completely after a week of being closely monitored in MVH's intensive care unit (ICU). She graduated and now works as a nurse.
Ron Wenclewicz: The Stress Test
Ironically, Ron Wenclewicz's signs of a heart attack started with a physical. To the world, Ron was in great shape. He was a lean, avid cyclist who had been passing yearly physicals since his 40th birthday. This year seemed no different, but a stress test was added by Ron's physician, since Ron's brother Mark had recently died at 46. Mark was in great shape as well, but died of extensive coronary artery disease when he collapsed playing basketball.
Ron breezed through the physical and stress test. But later at home Ron felt something wasn't right. His physician advised that he go to the emergency room (ER), but Ron figured it was nothing to be alarmed about. The next day at work things still didn't feel right. Ron was dizzy and even felt disoriented on his way to catch the bus home. Now it felt serious. Ron immediately went to MVH's ER. With his brother's history, he was admitted for monitoring. After being thoroughly tested, Ron passed and was released.
A year-and-a-half later the same thing happened again. And again, a full battery of tests showed nothing out of the ordinary. But Ron's physician still suspected it was his heart. He directed Ron to Dr. Mukul Chandra to do a 64-slice CT scan. Dr. Chandra recommends the 64-slice scan for younger patients where blockage may not be seen with the normal tests.
The 64-slice CT took images of Ron's aorta and reassembled these in the computer to show a complete picture of Ron's heart in minute detail, especially vein blockage. Ron was given a beta blocker before the test to slow his heartbeat to 60 or slower for a better picture, as well as a contrast agent. Then Ron held his breath for 15 seconds to immobilize his chest, as if holding still for a picture. Unlike older CT scans, the 64-slice can take a lot more pictures during one breath giving a much more stable group of images to work with.
From a 64-slice scan, Dr. Chandra could tell that Ron's heart was healthy, but could spot a small blockage in its early stages. This had not been visible in any other scan. Preventative steps were immediately taken to assure that Ron's heart would stay healthy for years to come.