The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Milford woman gets new lease on life
Nationally renowned surgeon performs remarkable technique for complex heart procedures
Wendy Lombardo, 56, a resident of Milford was in good health, however a year ago she was feeling extremely fatigued, after taking medication for years to treat a heart murmur. Lombardo says, “My neighbor’s in the field, so I told him what was going on. He recommended that I go see Dr. Hashim. So when I went to talk to Dr. Hashim, I knew he was the person who would do my surgery. When I asked how many of these procedures he performed, he couldn’t remember … he’d done so many! And he’s taught so many doctors how.
“I had a tear. I was losing blood, which is why I was getting so tired. Dr. Hashim also told me I had two strings or cords that had to be replaced. I had this mitral valve issue…I’d been seeing my cardiologist to monitor this, every six months for years. It got worse; I was getting heart palpitations. I’d get a head rush and dizzy spells every now and then. So when I talked to my cardiologist last year, she said, ‘ Wendy, you need to have an operation sooner than later. You’re young, healthy … just get it over with.’ This was before COVID-19. We decided to do it at St. Vincent’s in Bridgeport…only eight weeks ago!”
Sabet Hashim, MD, Physician-in-Chief at Hartford HealthCare Heart & Vascular Institute is nationally known for his technique of repairing the mitral valve, located within the left side of the heart. It’s a complicated surgery, but he’s mastered a minimally invasive approach with more than a 95% success rate. Patients at Hartford HealthCare’s Heart & Vascular Institute are now able to reap the rewards of his expertise.
And her experience with St. Vincent’s? “Oh my God, they were awesome,” she recalled. “I had a lot of nurses and doctors waiting on me; it was me and one other person on the whole floor. My surgery was around four hours. I was up and walking the next day and felt better right away. After years of heart palpitations, they were gone. I’m pretty active, you can’t keep me down, so I didn’t require any rehab. I stayed in the hospital an extra day to monitor my blood pressure. Had the surgery on a Monday, went home that Thursday. And I’m very grateful for no scarring! He went through my groin and right breast; two little cuts, you can hardly see them. He sewed the tear, fixed the strings or cords, and secured it all with an oval ring that ensures I never need a valve replacement. I’m off all medications, my heart murmur’s gone … never felt better. I had a lot of confidence in Dr. Hashim and I’m very glad I found him.”
Dr. Hashim recently spoke with the Connecticut Post to talk more about this life-altering procedure and his pivotal role at Hartford HealthCare.
Hearst Connecticut Media Group: You are Chairman of Hartford HealthCare’s Cardiac Surgery and Co-Physician in Chief of the Heart & Vascular Institute ... what does that mean? What are your responsibilities?
Dr. Hashim: As chairman, I oversee cardiac surgery at Hartford HealthCare. We have two major centers—Hartford Hospital and St. Vincent’s Medical Center. The co-physician part: that puts me in partnership with a senior administrator and a colleague in
Cardiology, James Cardon, MD. Our combined role is to direct cardiac surgery, vascular surgery and cardiology. The essence of the job is to really put the focus on the patient, not on the discipline or the specialty. For example, as a cardiac surgeon on that team, I make sure to work in synergy with Dr. Cardon, so that the welfare of the patient is the priority. And that’s very important, because that creates a balanced view of what needs to be done. In this type of trilogy, we prioritize what is important to the patient and the community.
And your team?
I’m privileged to have the same team throughout all my operations and surgeries. Whether I’m at St. Vincent’s or in Hartford, I have the same anesthesiologist, the same physician’s assistant and three nurses (one nurse has been with me for more than 25 years). We’re efficient and require very little prep time.
Your “claim to fame?”
Every doctor should ask themselves that question; what makes them unique or attractive to patients and referring physicians. Basically I am considered a mitral valve repair expert. Of course I’ve done every cardiac surgery you can think of … 15,000 of them, which puts me in the top 50 cardiac physicians in the country. I’m booked months ahead of time, and I operate four days a week.
I’ll tell you what makes my experience different. The guy who invented all the techniques of mitral valve repair … we’re going back to 1982 … is a Frenchman, Dr. Alain Carpentier. He received the Lasker Prize in 2007, one of the most prestigious awards in medicine.
Most cardiac surgeons would tell you he should have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine. He trained physicians in the United States and all over the world. I was fortunate; I was one of the earlier students of Dr. Carpentier who trained with him directly, one-on-one. You can call me one of his disciples, to put a Christian spin on it … but I’m not making him God (laughs)! I spent a solid three months with him in 1984. The man invented all the concepts and complex techniques concerning mitral repair. Not every surgeon was able to imitate him; it required lots of skills. I speak fluent French, which helped in my education with him.
I was able to analyze those techniques, dissect them, and adopt more flexible, modern tools to reproduce his results, in a more simplified way. For example, he used native cords from the patient.
A doctor in New York created artificial cords made of Gortex which are at least as strong as the native. So, for the last 10-15 years, because of this simplification, I could perform minimally invasive surgeries (for instance going under the breast, through the skin crease of the breast, as I did with Ms. Lombardo). It is laparoscopic, but manual, not robotic.
The mitral valve is like French doors. Oxygenated blood coming from the lungs is emptied into the top chamber (left atrium) of the heart, which then goes through the mitral valve to the bottom chamber (left ventricle, the heart’s “pump” that pushes blood to the body). The mitral valve prevents the blood from pumping backwards, back into the heart’s top chamber. When the valve isn’t functioning well or leaking, blood can go back into the left atrium, causing atrial fibrillation or pressure in the lung and shortness of breath, and fatigue, as with Ms. Lombardo.
This operation is very gratifying to the patient. You have a valve that’s not working and you make it work. No medications, drugs or pills can do that. Patients who have been suffering are transformed.
I met her through a referral from Bridgeport Hospital; from a doctor who was actually on my team during my time at Yale. And her neighbor advised her to seek me out for a second opinion. She decided to have the surgery at St. Vincent’s in Bridgeport, not far from her hometown of Milford … she was elated about that.
To learn more, please visit www. hartfordhealthcare.org/heart, call 860-696-5520 and follow Hartford HealthCare and St. Vincent’s Medical Center on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Tune into our next Facebook Live broadcast at noon on November 19, 2020.