1st patient to have AngioVac procedure in Atlantic Canada calls it a 'miracle'

A Nova Scotia woman is the first person in Atlantic Canada to have a special procedure called AngioVac to treat a blood infection near her heart, rather than open-heart surgery.

Ceilidh Mailman started to feel awful late in 2020, as if she had a terrible flu, before she learned she had endocarditis, a colony of bacteria growing on her heart valve. The infection spread from her heart to her shoulder and lung.

"This time was really very scary. And I could have died," the Truro woman said. 

Usually, such an infection would be treated with open-heart surgery, an often painful experience that comes with a long recovery time. 

Instead, a specialized 15-member team at the QEII Health Science Centre's new interventional radiology suites were able to heal her without surgery in December. She was home with her family for Christmas.

The AngioVac procedure involves inserting a tube into the neck and leg and pumping the blood out of the person, through a filter that removes the infection, and back into the person. It means the patient keeps their original heart valve and blood, and don't need to be cut open and stitched back together.

"The AngioVac procedure was truly a miracle — that I was even able to be up and walking right after having that procedure. It was just really amazing," Mailman said. 

The team included experts from cardiac surgery, interventional radiology, cardiac anesthesia and cardiovascular perfusion.  

The QEII's interventional radiology suites opened in November 2020 and can help medical professionals diagnose and treat diseases like cancer, strokes and dangerous bleeding. 

Cardiac surgeon Dr. Keir Stewart led the team that performed the procedure on Mailman. 

"Ceilidh's story isn't uncommon. Five years ago, it was rare to see a tricuspid valve infection. Now, cardiac surgeons at the QEII do as many as 10 surgeries a year, mostly on young people who are intravenous drug users," he said. 

He said the AngioVac procedure will help more people in the coming years, leading to shorter wait-lists and quicker recovery times.

Stopping a stroke in its tracks

Dr. Robert Berry, head of interventional radiology, said if someone is having a stroke, his team can stop it using a procedure that pulls the blood clot that is causing the stroke out of the artery. 

"Instead of that patient going on to a lifetime of being paralyzed or not being able to speak, they can have this miraculous recovery where when we pull this stroke out of the person's artery, they recover completely with no deficits," he said. 

Berry's team is on pace to do 7,600 such procedures in 2021, up 1,600 from 2020. For patients, that means shorter waiting times and quicker recoveries. They hope to add two more IR suites, which could let them do more than 9,000 procedures a year.

Mailman said her health troubles grew out of her drug use. She said the prospect of ending the year with major surgery and starting it with a long recovery would have been daunting.

Instead, her quick recovery gave her time to deal with her addictions and get sober.  

"I felt it important to share that I was an addict, and I'm in recovery now. It's important for others to know, who may be struggling with those problems, especially during the pandemic," she said. "Our bodies are in trauma-response mode and everyone deals with it differently. Every day is a struggle, but I'm a lot stronger now."

She said the health staff praised her for being willing to do the new procedure. 

"I replied, 'You guys are doing everything for me to save my life. This is the least I can do,'" she said.

"They're good people to have and they do so much for our province and our country. They give so much of themselves in the run of a day, and they still have time to talk to you."

Time to recover

She also started a podcast to talk about health issues and the root causes of addiction. 

"It's hard for anyone to really express emotions and feelings. It's something in our society — we're encouraged to do it — but to get those words from inside to out is very difficult," she said.  

"I'm getting out things I wouldn't normally. I want to help others. Helping others does help yourself."

The new suites were paid for by taxpayers and the QEII Foundation, which raised $1.2 million to equip two of the four treatment rooms with the necessary equipment and technology, as well as constructing an 11-space patient recovery area.

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