Heidi Easley has a full life. The last thing on her mind was making medical history in
Texas, but that’s exactly what she did. A mother, an artist and a teacher, the 37 year-
old Fort Worth resident’s life took a sudden detour the day she suffered a small transient
ischemic attack (TIA). A TIA is referred to as a “small stroke” and is often a precursor
to a larger stroke. Heidi was at home when she lost vision in one eye. She describes her
brain squeezing in on itself. Her daughter Pixie grabbed her mother’s hand and began
to pray out loud.
Heidi saw an ophthalmologist who diagnosed her with migraines. Knowing there was
heart disease in her family, she decided to seek a second opinion from a neurologist on
the medical staff of Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth. The
neurologist referred her to an interventional cardiologist also on the medical staff and
a member of the Baylor Heart and Vascular Services at Fort Worth team. During her
diagnostic evaluation, the interventional cardiologist discovered a small hole between
the upper chambers of her heart – a patent foramen ovale (PFO).
Normally, in a developing fetus, the foramen ovale (FO) allows oxygenated
blood from the placenta to bypass the lungs. The FO, a small flap-like opening,
generally closes shortly after birth. However, in one in four adults, the hole
doesn’t close up, resulting in a PFO. Millions of people with a PFO don’t
know they have the condition until later in life when they experience a stroke.
This happens because the PFO can potentially allow dangerous clots to pass
from the right side of the heart to the left where they travel up to the brain.
Heidi found herself in the interventional cardiology laboratory at Baylor
Fort Worth, preparing to undergo a history-making procedure. Under the
experienced hands of the interventional cardiologist, Heidi was the first
commercial (non-research) patient in Texas to receive the Amplatzer PFO
Occluder, the first and only FDA-approved device designed to close the PFO.
The minimally invasive procedure introduced a catheter through the vein in
Heidi’s groin up into the right side of her heart. The tiny Amplatzer PFO
Occluder, loaded on the tip of the catheter, was deployed into the PFO and
opened like an umbrella to cover the hole in her heart. The catheter was then
unscrewed from the tip of the Occluder and removed. Heidi’s heart tissue will
eventually grow over the device. The procedure was completed while Heidi
was sedated, but still conscious.
HEIDI EASLEY’S STORY
“I remember hearing them say they had gotten the hard part done,” Heidi recalls.
“Then they started clapping. In recovery, I started crying and so did the nurses. I told
them, you don’t understand what you’ve done for me, what my life could have been like
if I had experienced another stroke. I’m just so grateful.”
To watch Heidi’s story, visit: baylorhearthospital.com/HeidiEasley
“Heidi was the first commercial patient in Texas to receive the Amplatzer PFO
Occluder. This is a huge improvement in the quality of life for those patients with PFO.
They don’t have to take blood thinners for the rest of their life and they don’t have to
worry that they might have another stroke,” says Farhan Ali MD, medical director of
Interventional Cardiology, Baylor Heart and Vascular Services at Fort Worth.
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