A
FTER HE STARTED habitually waking
up at night short of breath, he went
for testing and was referred to
UMCHealth System.
Romero suffered his first heart attack in
2000 at the age of 38. By 2016, his heart was
failing and he either needed to move away
from his hometown of Lubbock and wait for
a heart transplant or stay local and receive
the first left ventricular assist device (LVAD)
from the heart failure program at UMC.
When Romero visited Nandini
Nair,M.D., Ph.D., director of Advanced
Heart Failure Services, professor of
medicine, Texas Tech Physicians Center
for Cardiovascular Health, he brought his
previous echocardiography results — and
reports of his symptoms with him. After he
and Dr. Nair discussed his condition,
Dr. Nair ran an angiogram to look for blood
vessel blockages and found complications
with the left ventricle of his heart.
"After we realized his left ventricle
functioning was poor and the areas in
the heart muscle weren't working due to
myocardial disease, we looked at his options
and ruled out coronary artery bypass
because he wasn't a candidate," Dr. Nair
said. "We decided he needed an assist device
to survive. e LVAD is a battery-operated
mechanical heart pump that helps the left
ventricle pump blood to the rest of the
body. We use it as a bridge to transplant and
recovery as well as a destination therapy."
LVAD TO THE RESCUE
In the meantime, temporary therapies
included blood pressure management
and diuretics. He participated in cardiac
rehabilitation prior to his surgery, which
helped him build up his strength for the
procedure. During this stage, Romero's
ADVANCED
HEART CARE
AVAILABLE LOCALLY
WHEN 54-YEAR-OLD
MIKE ROMERO, A
RETIRED MECHANICAL
ENGINEER, STARTED
FEELING OUT OF
BREATH AND FATIGUED
AFTER COMPLETING
SIMPLE TASKS, HE
THOUGHT HE WAS
JUST OUT OF SHAPE
AND NEEDED TO WORK
ON HIS FITNESS.
4 PHYSICIAN NOTES /// FALL 2016
