(West Islip, NY) On March 21, 59-year-old Vincent Marullo came close to seeing his wife, Susan, and two children for the last time. After feeling extremely fatigued for a couple of weeks, Marullo went to the doctor thinking he had bronchitis. Initial testing showed a drop in blood pressure prompting his doctor to send him for cardiac testing. Cardiologist Eileen Bishop, MD, performed a trans esophageal echocardiogram (TEE), a special ultrasound test to assess heart muscle and valve function. The results prompted an urgent cardiac catheterization performed by Good Samaritan Hospital’s Director of the Cardiac Catherization Program Ezra Deutsch, MD, to examine the coronary arteries for blockages. Marillo was found to be in cardiogenic shock and needing immediate open heart surgery to bypass blockages in the arteries leading to his heart and replace a severely diseased mitral valve.
Fortunately, the recently launched St. Francis Open Heart Surgery Program at Good Samaritan Hospital had in place an expert cardiothoracic surgical team from St. Francis on-site at Good Sam. Cardiothoracic surgeon Christopher La Mendola, MD, performed emergency triple bypass and heart valve replacement in order to save his life. Over the next several weeks he would also need additional surgery to drain fluid from around his heart and have his heart shocked back into rhythm.
Pictured (L-R): His daughter, Betsy, and wife, Susan, have been at Vincent Marullo’s bedside for nearly a month. He will start cardiac rehabilitation at Good Samaritan within the next few weeks. Mr. Marullo is looking forward to returning back to work in commercial construction in the very near future. He is very thankful for this second chance in life and is looking forward to spending time with his family. Photo Credit: Good Samaritan Hospital.
“If they hadn’t had the St. Francis Hospital Open Heart Surgery program at Good Samaritan Hospital my husband would not have survived,” said Susan Marullo. “Having brought my husband to Good Sam was a miracle.”
For more information on the open heart surgery program at Good Samaritan, please visit www.good-samaritan-hospital.org or call (631) 376-4444.
Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center is a 537-bed (including 100 nursing home beds), voluntary, not-for-profit hospital located in West Islip. The medical center, which has more than 3,500 employees and 900 physicians on staff, had nearly 28,000 patient admissions and nearly 100,000 emergency department visits in 2012. Good Samaritan is a member of Catholic Health Services of Long Island. Visit the website at www.good-samaritan-hospital.org.
The medical center supplies residents with the tools necessary to maintain good health. This includes community lectures, screenings, health fairs and other community programs and services.
