Inspiration

“I probably would have dropped dead”

Mikhail Krasnopolskiy embraced a meditative, relaxing lifestyle after learning, by chance, that he has heart disease.

Mikhail Krasnopolskiy exercises regularly, eats a macrobiotic diet free of meat and teaches yoga. The 47-year-old from Morton Grove is a model of health and fitness, which is why he never imagined he would need urgent open heart surgery.

In fact, it was only happenstance that he received the initial heart screening that saved his life. As a nurse in Swedish Covenant Hospital’s cardiology department, Mikhail was among several employees who volunteered to receive a CT scan as part of the training process for the hospital’s new heart CT scanner.

Mikhail has a family history of heart disease, putting him at an increased risk and making him a candidate for a scan, and because the new scanner emits the lowest dose of radiation possible, it posed minimal risk to Mikhail. Still, his healthy lifestyle and lack of symptoms meant it was unlikely the test would reveal an abnormality.

But it did.

“If I hadn’t had the scan, I probably would have dropped dead because I didn’t have any symptoms,” he said.

Mikhail underwent further testing and soon learned that he had heart disease in all three of his main coronary arteries, where there were multiple areas of significant blockage. One artery was 90 percent obstructed, and Mikhail’s only option was surgery.

“He could have progressed to a heart attack without any warning signs in six months to a year,” said Dr. Ronald Curran, the cardiothoracic surgeon at Swedish Covenant Hospital who performed Mikhail’s surgery.

Mikhail’s story is a perfect reminder of why it’s important to pay attention to the signs of heart disease, Curran said. Mikhail likely was experiencing symptoms but dismissed them; he admits that physical responses to his busy lifestyle and “adrenaline rushes” at work may have masked the signs.

These signs can include chest pain, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, dizziness and nausea, and it’s important to speak with your physician if you’re experiencing any of these, Curran said. Curran emphasized that although the CT scan helped diagnose Mikhail’s seemingly unlikely disease, CT scans are not recommended purely as screening tools for healthy adults and are only used for patients who present risks for heart disease.

Mikhail’s situation was quite rare, and he’s thankful his fluke test sent him on a life-saving journey. He was determined to make the surgery his last, and has adopted an even healthier lifestyle that includes exercise five to seven days a week, and vitamin supplements such as folic acid, and vitamins B and E. He also has embraced meditation and alternative relaxation techniques to help him sleep and relax.
 
“I was an adrenaline junkie,” Mikhail said. “I loved to work in the emergency room. I loved that feeling. I’m now learning to work in a calm manner.”

His new meditative approach to life helped him wean off his post-operative medications, and now he only takes a daily aspirin.

The father of two also encouraged his sons, ages 23 and 25, to take control of their health early by getting tested to determine if they are genetically predisposed to heart disease.

Mikhail said he hopes his story inspires others to get regular checkups with their physicians and pay attention to what their bodies are telling them.

“I’m eager to get the word out about my personal experience and hope it will be helpful to other people,” he said.

More about the CT scan that saved Mikhail’s life

What makes Mikhail’s situation even more unique is that CT scans more often “rule out” heart disease than lead to a diagnosis of it.

That’s because CTs are used for patients who have low to moderate risk, meaning their chest pain could be a result of a variety of conditions, and there’s no way of making an accurate diagnosis without looking at the heart.

CT technology has advanced so far that physicians can see the heart clearly and in enough detail through the images to make a diagnosis — eliminating the need to physically look at the heart via an invasive angiogram procedure.

“Previous CT scanners take snapshots of the upper, middle and lower heart in 5 different beats and then reconstruct them like a puzzle, with ‘seams’ that can make it difficult to determine whether an abnormality is truly a blockage,” said Kathy Donofrio, director of cardiology at Swedish Covenant Hospital. “The Siemens Flash CT scanner takes one picture of the entire heart in one beat, making everything more clear and precise.”

Swedish Covenant Hospital was the first in Chicago to acquire the scanner last year, and more hospitals are on board to acquire it soon.

An added bonus of the Flash CT scanner, Donofrio said, is that it emits the lowest dose of radiation possible — a level 90 percent lower than most traditional CT scanners.

“This is so important given the mounting concerns over CT safety and increased exposure to potentially cancer-causing radiation,” she said.

Donofrio said it’s important for patients experiencing chest pain to talk to their doctor to find out if they might be a candidate.

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