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Stented for the third time
Kęstutis Katauskas, 57, who lives in Bubiai, has worked in the police all his life. After 25 years of service, he went on a well-deserved vacation. The health man did not complain, but decided to choose another job and sat behind the wheel of a dump truck: transporting sand, crushed dolomite stone, gravel. Work is calmer, but Kęstutis used to live a healthy life, did not drink alcohol, did not smoke, was never overweight, so he rarely went to the doctor.
A couple of years ago, at the age of 55, he turned to Virginija Kazlauskienė, a family doctor who worked at the Bubiai Outpatient Clinic. The doctor prescribed a cardiac check-up under a cardiovascular disease preventive program and prescribed a referral to a cardiologist.
“I signed up with Rūta Snikytė, a cardiologist at the Cardiovascular Center at Šiauliai Republican Hospital, and I am very happy about that,” said K. Katauskas, convinced that thanks to a caring doctor, he had been diagnosed with advanced heart disease without complaint.
The doctor’s suspicions were confirmed after the interventional cardiologist Vytenius Tamakauskas performed an interventional coronary angiography, during which it was established that atherosclerosis affected up to two coronary arteries. The main artery, the anterior ventricular branch, which was reduced by up to 98 percent, was implanted by the doctor during the same procedure, and the second stage of coronary stenting was decided to be performed one month later. Then, according to Kęstutis, the stent was inserted into the trunk of the left coronary artery during a complicated procedure, thus avoiding surgical treatment of the heart.
Almost a year after the second stenting procedure, K. Katauskas registered with a cardiologist for a consultation. Unfortunately, the quarantine in the country was announced and the visit to the cardiologist was increasingly delayed.
There were no signs of illness.
“I was preparing for work, but I started to squeeze my chest. I was scared because I felt bad, and my wife called an ambulance, “recalls the man on an unfortunate morning, which could have been very fatal to him.
Especially since his father died of heart failure at the age of 57. Kęstutis has no doubts that he inherited the disease, because he, like his father, lived without signs of illness or health problems.
“I just have to thank the doctors for their attention in noticing the disease and the great professionalism in saving it,” says the hospital patient, whose fate has led to the absence of another dangerous disease, COVID-19, which was diagnosed in the hospital.
“The strangest thing is that I was the only one at work who followed the coronavirus safety rules, constantly washing my hands and using disinfectants,” says Kęstutis.
But hygiene did not protect against the insidious virus. The temperature taken to the hospital by ambulance was measured: it was normal, 36.6 C. The nasopharyngeal smear was then performed, other necessary tests were carried out and the patient was taken to the operating room, since it was no longer possible to delay it.
The stenting procedure in the coronary artery was performed by the interventional cardiologist Vytenis Tamakauskas and surgical nurses Vilma Jonaitienė and Vida Vaitekūnaitna. Immediately after the procedure, the patient felt better and was taken to the ward.
In self-isolation: the care of doctors
Unforgettable Kęstutis Katauskas Saturday morning after the operation. When the doctor came to visit him, he was pleased that the patient was feeling well and only said that he would have to stay in the hospital on Tuesday. But a few minutes later, the doctor returned with a different opinion and explained that he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and that he would have to go into isolation today. A place of self-isolation was also offered, but Kęstutis decided to drive home where conditions for isolation were appropriate.
The news surprised not only the doctors, but also Kęstutis himself. Until now, he does not understand what he could have contracted because nobody in his environment was sick. Now he thinks that maybe someone like him was asymptomatic. Also, you have to communicate with a lot of people, which makes it difficult to solve.
Myocardial infarction is caused by a critical narrowing or blockage of the coronary artery.
While in self-isolation, the patient called the family doctor daily to ask how he felt about COVID-19. The hospital cardiologist also called and asked how he felt about his heart. K. Katauskas felt well, much better than before the procedure, he had bought all the necessary medications and was taking them regularly.
After being in self-isolation for almost a month and receiving two negative responses to the COVID-19 survey, he returned to the life he lived in: sitting behind the wheel of a huge garbage truck.
Cardiologists rescued patients with acute heart disease
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world, people suffered more than just COVID-19. According to Vytenis Tamakauskas, cardiologist at the Department of Interventional Angiology, despite the danger posed by COVID-19 infection, doctors from the Department of Interventional Angiology at the Hospital rescued and continue to rescue residents of the city and region of Šiauliai from acute myocardial infarction or stroke 24 hours a day.
Myocardial infarction is one of the most insidious and dangerous heart diseases. According to the cardiologist, this is one of the main causes of death in Lithuania and in the world. Myocardial infarction is caused by a critical narrowing or blockage of the coronary artery. Without the timely detection of the disease and without interventional treatment, without restoration of cardiovascular circulation, there is a high probability that the patient will die.
Photo by Z.Katkienė / Cardiologist from the Department of Interventional Angiology Vytenis Tamakauskas (second from left) along with colleagues
If the patient responds in a timely manner and uses the medication in good faith after the interventional treatment, in the long run there can be no symptoms and consequences of the disease. However, without timely intervention or intervention, most die, and the long-term prognosis is poor for survivors, as they have to live with varying degrees of symptoms of heart failure.
During the quarantine period, the work of the Cardiovascular Center was not limited to coronary angiography or therapeutic coronary artery procedures.
“We also provide emergency interventional radiology and electrophysiology services. During the quarantine period, 743 intervention procedures were performed. This figure includes diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for coronary arteries, treatment of interventional stroke, cervical vascular angioplasty and stenting, pacemaker implantation. During the quarantine period, we performed only 35 percent fewer procedures compared to 2019. At the same time, “says interventional cardiologist V.Tamakauskas.
The doctors ignored the stress of the quarantine.
Head of the Cardiovascular Center dr. Nora Kupstytė-Krištaponė states that during the quarantine the cardiologists at the hospital were focused and determined to work.
The older colleagues at risk remained at home, and the remaining doctors and nurses worked in shifts, despite quarantine tensions and ignorance, and none refused to fulfill their obligations. They all followed strict rules for applying personal protective equipment, so even when a COVID-19 patient entered, no one was infected and help was provided in a timely manner.
Photo by Z.Katkienė / Nora Kupstytė-Krištaponė
“It was not an easy time, now we are used to learning and protecting patients. The sincere appreciation of the patient is really important to us, we are happy with his well-being and we wish him good health. And now they expect new challenges: we are renewing the work Planned by cardiologists so that as many people as possible can be examined and treated before the onset of myocardial infarction, “says Dr. N. Kupstytė-Krištapoinė, recalling that at the beginning of quarantine not even provided by the European Society of Cardiology.
The work of the cardiovascular center never stops. During the quarantine period, only consultations and procedures that did not endanger the health or life of patients were suspended. Throughout the quarantine period, clinicians and patients provided all protective measures with ongoing support for patients with acute myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, as well as patients with sudden cardiac arrhythmias.
When the coronavirus is rampant, there is an internal anxiety that the patient may develop COVID-19. However, doctors always apply the highest standards of personal protection and adhere to hygiene standards, so the probability of infection is close to zero. Especially since other dangerous diseases can be found daily at work: HIV, hepatitis C and other infections or viruses, so the staff is experienced, always uses all possible protection measures in daily work and avoids infection.
After going through the stenting procedure a third time and falling ill with COVID-19, Kęstutis Katauskas thanks the doctors not only for the attention given to the disease, but also for the great professionalism that saved his life.
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