MUSChealth.org/heart | 9 MUSC HEALTH HEART & VASCULAR CENTER Dr. Houston and his team screen family members and provide family counseling, early treatment and ways to delay failure for decades. A middle-aged woman who had already seen other cardiologists and was concerned about her diagnosis learned from Dr. Houston and the expert team at the MUSC Health Heart & Vascular Center that a non-invasive procedure to clip her heart’s mitral valve would stop the regurgitation she experienced during physical exertion. In short, she could be back to her active self soon. “Each case highlights our expert multidisciplinary, skilled approach to diagnosis and treatment,” explained Dr. Houston. “I have a world of experts across the hall, so I can poke my head out to gather pulmonologists, radiologists, surgeons – any expert needed to come to a consensus on treatment.” Each case also confirms that patients “are not alone – that they can still live their best life with heart failure,” Dr. Houston added. It is the combination of knowing his role in patient success stories and “finding that space where you can support patients even when things are not going well” that Dr. Houston said he enjoys the most. “I enjoy the more cerebral part of cardiology – the physiology and theoretical parts,” he added. “There is great reward in being able to explain to patients why we are using a specific medication or a different form of intervention, including a transplant.” Mount Pleasant resident John Evans is one of many of Dr. Houston’s patients who appreciates his surgical talent as well as his ability to explain what is happening. “I’d be pushing up daisies if it weren’t for Dr. Houston and the LVAD. Mine is the third generation – a Heart Mate 3,” said Evans, who added that he loves being “the walking and talking proof that the pump works.” Dr. Houston and his team surgically placed the LVAD inside Evans’ chest and attached it to the left ventricle of the heart and the aorta. He then passed a “driveline” through the skin of the abdomen and connected it to the controller and the power supply. “I’m battery operated during the day, and at night I unscrew from batteries and go to a long chord,” said Evans. “I don’t have a pulse; I have a whirring sound. This pump is spinning 5,500 rpms; it’s unbelievable.” Evans returns to the MUSC Health Heart & Vascular Center for regular checkups with his LVAD care team. He confirmed that Dr. Houston and his team can’t offer him a prognosis for his life span. “This is all still a work in progress,” he explained, “which is exciting. Someday there will be an entire system that can be implanted into the chest cavity with no wires running out.” Dr. Houston echoes Evans’ thrill about medical advances. “I’m excited about the future of this field. The fact that we can cure someone with a transplant and that we can put a mechanical pump in someone’s body and connect it with electricity is miraculous,” said Dr. Houston. “Advances continue to unfold here every day.” Each case also confirms that patients “are not alone – that they can still live their best life with heart failure,” Dr. Houston added. To schedule an appointment, call 843-792-1952
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