Stryi woman has heart surgery (12/31/89)

Stryi woman has heart surgery

NEWARK, N.J. - A 53-year-old music teacher from western Ukraine visiting the United States was released on December 23 from St. Michael's Medical Center following life-saving surgery donated by physicians at that Newark facility and St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J.

Iryna Chaban of Stryi, Ukraine, underwent four hours of open heart surgery at St. Michael's on December 12 to replace a badly diseased aortic valve with a mechanic valve, according to Michele Brinkerhoff, the surgeon's nurse coordinator. The delicate surgery was performed by Dr. Philip R. Seaver Jr., a cardiothoracic surgeon, whose help was enlisted by Dr. Bohdan Woroch, a cardiologist at St. Barnabas and a leader of the New York and New Jersey branch of the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America.

Dr. Woroch took on Mrs. Chaban's case after she suffered fainting spells and chest pains while visiting family and friends. Six years ago, doctors in Ukraine told Mrs. Chaban, who is a member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union, that they did not have the know-how or the technology to help her heart condition, diagnosed here as critical aortic stenosis, a contraction of a major valve in the heart.

For pre-operative procedures, Dr. Woroch requested the help of a fellow cardiologist, Dr. Mario Criscito, and his partners, Dr. Anthony Casella and Dr. Gary Rogal.

Upon leaving the hospital, Mrs. Chaban was reportedly feeling very well, according to a December 24 article in The Sunday Star-Ledger.

Her prognosis is very good, said Ms. Brinkerhoff in a telephone interview. Mrs. Chaban will, however, have to take a bloodthinner for the rest of her life, said Ms. Brinkerhoff.