Post by alitohead on Jan 27, 2007 19:56:05 GMT -5
Story by: Ross Becker, ross@abc4.com
A heart procedure done by a doctor here in Salt Lake City fixes holes in the heart and it may also cure migraine headaches.
ABC 4 climatologist and Eisenhower Junior High teacher Clayton Brough had a hole in his heart. He was born with it, but didn't know it until recently when he began tiring quickly and having "episodes", as he called them, times when he lost his memory for just a few moments.
All of this scared Clayton, so he went to see Dr. Sherman Sorensen a world-renowned cardiologist working right here in Salt Lake City. When he found out Dr. Sorensen could not only fix the hole in his heart, but that by having it done, Clayton might help others suffering from migraines, Clayton said YES right away.
This week Clayton checked in to LDS Hospital to have his heart fixed. This is NOT open heart surgery and, according to Dr. Sorensen that is the beauty of what he calls the PFO. It's a tiny, parachute looking device made of mesh and special fabric. It is a plug that is inserted into the heart and opens plugging the hole and mending a broken heart. Blood flowing either to the lungs or back from the lungs is no longer "leaking" into another heart chamber and the patient feels better right away, says the doctor.
Helping migraines
Dr. Sorensen does scores of these procedures each month and he discovered something unusual. Many of his patients were also reporting migraine headaches, but when the P-F-O was inserted and the hole was fixed, many said their migraines disappeared, too.
However, before anyone can claim this procedure helps migraines and in order to get government approval, more testing needs to be done and Dr. Sorensen is now participating in a nationwide study with the hopes of getting this procedure approved for treating migraines.
Sorensen says, "the study we are doing is very important and the people who participate will help 15 million people in the United States and 200,000 people in Utah if it turns out to be true".
And, that is why ABC 4's Clayton Brough is so happy to be part of it. Not only is the hole in his heart repaired, but he is helping others by participating in this major medical study.
ABC 4's Ross Becker was in the operating room this week when the PFO device was maneuvered up into Clayton's vein and into the heart chambers. The video shows the parachute-looking device inside Brough's heart and then you can see it deployed. There was a tiny camera at the end of a tube and you can see the operation.
Why would Clayton Brough allow all of us to see this personal moment? "I am hopeful I can help just one person... with the symptoms I had or with migraines then it is worth the loss of privacy."
Clayton Brough can't stop teaching and we are all learning some important lessons from his broken heart.
www.abc4.com/content/features/story.aspx?content_id=7de86e75-ad38-41e0-b40a-2e9921e07bf1
A heart procedure done by a doctor here in Salt Lake City fixes holes in the heart and it may also cure migraine headaches.
ABC 4 climatologist and Eisenhower Junior High teacher Clayton Brough had a hole in his heart. He was born with it, but didn't know it until recently when he began tiring quickly and having "episodes", as he called them, times when he lost his memory for just a few moments.
All of this scared Clayton, so he went to see Dr. Sherman Sorensen a world-renowned cardiologist working right here in Salt Lake City. When he found out Dr. Sorensen could not only fix the hole in his heart, but that by having it done, Clayton might help others suffering from migraines, Clayton said YES right away.
This week Clayton checked in to LDS Hospital to have his heart fixed. This is NOT open heart surgery and, according to Dr. Sorensen that is the beauty of what he calls the PFO. It's a tiny, parachute looking device made of mesh and special fabric. It is a plug that is inserted into the heart and opens plugging the hole and mending a broken heart. Blood flowing either to the lungs or back from the lungs is no longer "leaking" into another heart chamber and the patient feels better right away, says the doctor.
Helping migraines
Dr. Sorensen does scores of these procedures each month and he discovered something unusual. Many of his patients were also reporting migraine headaches, but when the P-F-O was inserted and the hole was fixed, many said their migraines disappeared, too.
However, before anyone can claim this procedure helps migraines and in order to get government approval, more testing needs to be done and Dr. Sorensen is now participating in a nationwide study with the hopes of getting this procedure approved for treating migraines.
Sorensen says, "the study we are doing is very important and the people who participate will help 15 million people in the United States and 200,000 people in Utah if it turns out to be true".
And, that is why ABC 4's Clayton Brough is so happy to be part of it. Not only is the hole in his heart repaired, but he is helping others by participating in this major medical study.
ABC 4's Ross Becker was in the operating room this week when the PFO device was maneuvered up into Clayton's vein and into the heart chambers. The video shows the parachute-looking device inside Brough's heart and then you can see it deployed. There was a tiny camera at the end of a tube and you can see the operation.
Why would Clayton Brough allow all of us to see this personal moment? "I am hopeful I can help just one person... with the symptoms I had or with migraines then it is worth the loss of privacy."
Clayton Brough can't stop teaching and we are all learning some important lessons from his broken heart.
www.abc4.com/content/features/story.aspx?content_id=7de86e75-ad38-41e0-b40a-2e9921e07bf1
