Chicago woman becomes first person in the country to undergo new heart laser surgery

Jet, August 18, 1997

A Chicago woman recently made medical history by becoming the first person in the United States to undergo thorascopic investigational heart laser surgery.

Dorothy Walker, 57, who had been suffering from coronary artery disease, was the first to undergo an experimental new laser heart surgery method. Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Keith Horvath performed the operation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, IL.

The procedure that Dr. Horvath performed on Walker required him to make three, one-inch incisions on Walker's side. A small video scope, called a thoracoscope, was then inserted into one of the incisions, allowing him to see the heart in detail on a video screen. Then, a high-powered carbon dioxide laser was used to drill dozens of small channels through the heart muscle, allowing blood to bypass the clogged arteries and travel directly to the area of the heart where blood flow was restricted.

Prior to this method, an operation for this condition required doctors to make a six- to eight-inch incision above the patient's rib cage and remove several ribs before proceeding with the heart surgery.

With Dr. Horvath's investigational heart laser surgery, the procedure is less painful and requires less recovery time than earlier methods. There is also less trauma to the ribs and chest, says Dr. Horvath.

"I've used the laser on many patients who've had bad hearts," Dr. Horvath tells JET. "I've also used the thoracoscope many times before. But this is the first time the two have been combined during an operation...It went very well. It was easier than I thought it would be. I am pleased with the way the operation went and how Ms. Walker did. It took about an hour and a half to perform."

Walker, a resident of Country Club Hills, a suburb of Chicago, who is the mother of three, says she also is elated with the way the operation went.

"I'm happy to be alive," Walker tells JET in a voice filled with excitement. "I've been feeling great. Naturally I'm sore and a little awkward. Everything has gone great so far."

She admits that at first she was apprehensive about being the first to undergo that type of heart operation, but she explains that, "I didn't have much of a choice. It was either that or take the chance of having another heart attack."

Adds the retired postal clerk, "I didn't think about making medical history. I just thought about whatever it would take to keep me here."