"Super Glue" Saves Local Woman's Life
By: Amanda Ciavarri
Updated: May 13, 2011
A local woman's fight for her life is getting national attention.
A 33 year old mother of one opted to try a medical procedure that has never been done any where in the world.
Doctors suggested injecting a super-glue-like substance into her heart, and the result saved her life.
And it all happened and the
Amanda Ciavarri has the incredible story.
For years 32 year old Jamie Arliss had symptoms no one could explain
"I would have shortness of breath and fatigue sometimes, but I thought that was because I worked the night shift," said Jamie Arliss, has rare heart tumor.
After a series of tests and doctors visits Jamie learned she has an extremely rare tumor in her heart.
“A Vascular Malformation resembles a spaghetti-like formation of blood vessels that has the possibility of bleeding in the brain and in the heart it can grow and cause problems as it did for Jamie,” said Dr. Babak Joahromi, Neurosurgeon at
"I kind of had a moment of shock. I kind of freaked out a little,” said Arliss.
Her Cardiologist, Doctor Christopher Cover, from the
“This is such a rare tumor in the heart that the only descriptions really were in autopsies," said Dr. Christopher Cove, Cardiologist at
The golf ball size tumor was inoperable, and doctors said chemo would be no use either.
"It is the worst nightmare for a parent to even think about losing a child and I was very very scared," said Debra Devito, Jamie’s Mother.
Only because of equipment failure did the two doctors work together and learn from each other.
“We are both plumbers. Dr. Cove is a heart plumber and I am a brain plumber,” said Joahromi.
Cove and Joahromi spent weeks working together.
Joahromi has treated many AMV tumors in the brain and had an idea.
"The pictures of the two were so similar that we thought maybe we can use these proven methods that work in the brain to this AVM in the heart," thought Joaromi.
Those proven methods seem almost unbelievable. The doctors decided to inject Onyx or medical super glue into tumor to try and stop it from growing.
“It can be injected slowly over long periods. It is like lava, it can ooze into the smallest parts of this spaghetti like vascular malformation and destroy it from the inside," said Johromi.
This kind of procedure for a heart had never been tried any where in the world.
“I just had faith it would work, so I said okay lets do it,” said Arliss. "The biggest fear was fear for my daughter, being by herself if something happened to me, or did,” added Arliss.
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In December right here in
“It makes me a believer,” said Arliss.
And now Jamie’s tumor has stopped growing completely, and is even getting smaller.
