Doctor’s visit leads to surprising diagnosis for Connecticut man

It’s not clear what Ken Schlosser was expecting when he went to his doctor in 2019 with what he described as “a frog in my throat,” but he probably wasn’t anticipating a referral to a cardiologist.

Schlosser, 58, of Greenwich, was eventually diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, a condition in which the beating in the upper chambers of the heart is irregular, and blood doesn’t flow properly into the heart’s lower chambers.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, atrial fibrillation is the most common kind of heart arrhythmia. Arrhythmia is when the heart beats too slowly or quickly or in another irregular way. The CDC estimates that 12.1 million people in the United States will have atrial fibrillation in 2030.

But Schlosser had absolutely no idea that his throat issue had anything to do with his heart.

“I had just gone to my regular doctor and he’s the one who realized I was in AFib with my heart racing,” he said. “I never felt anything. I felt fine.”

To some, the incident shows the importance of regular doctors’ visits — particularly regular visits to a cardiologist for those who have, or might have, heart problems. That’s why it was distressing early in the COVID-19 pandemic, when some people delayed doctors’ visits due to health concerns, said Dr. Jeffrey Berman, chair of cardiology at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport.

“With the pandemic there absolutely was a fall off in treatments for heart attack that was noted pretty early on,” Berman said. “It was felt that the reason for that was people just were not coming to the hospital.”

Schlosser’s cardiologist, Dr. Joshua Lader, agreed that “there was definitely a reluctance early in 2020, though it’s kind of come back to normal.” However, he said, even though people might no longer have pandemic-related anxiety about seeing a doctor, they might still have a general anxiety that can keep them from coming to the doctor in a timely fashion.

“I think for something that doesn’t make you feel so bad, it’s easy (for many people) to put things off,” said Lader, cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist at Stamford Hospital.

That is scary, he said, as it can lead to someone not seeing a doctor until it was too late. For instance, Lader said, if Schlosser had waited to feel an irregular heartbeat before going to a doctor, it could have been disastrous for him.

According to the CDC, atrial fibrillation contributes to 158,000 deaths each year, and can lead to an increased risk of stroke. Cardiac issues in general are nothing to play around with, experts said.

The CDC reports that heart disease is the leading cause of death for men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States. About 659,000 people in the United States die from heart disease each year, the agency reports.

Luckily, Schlosser’s condition was caught in time, and he was able to get help. He was treated with ablation, a procedure that targets the irritable areas in the heart that cause atrial fibrillation and, using a special wire that is inserted through the vein in the leg, seeks to cauterize those areas.

Since then, Schlosser has visited with Lader every six months — including virtual visits over the pandemic. So far, he’s felt pretty good, he said. He’s changed his diet and lost weight, which he said helps.

“Everything has been great,” Schlosser said. Though he hasn’t noticed a perceptible change in his heart “I can climb stairs better now.”