The clinic includes workout facilities, which are used for fitness tests as well as to help patients meet personal health goals. Photo by Dan Dry
“Our tools, the equipment and the software keep getting more and more sophisticated.”
the thin membrane that separates the two upper chambers of the heart, allowing the catheter to pass safely from the right side of the heart to the left. “Having the right tools to control each step,” Knight said, “enhances our confidence and extends the number of patients we can help.” Barbara Ganschow, 80, suffered from atrial fibrillation. An avid traveler who was remarkably healthy for the first 75 years of her life, she noticed the irregular heart rhythm during a 23-hour flight back to Chicago from South Africa. “I just felt awful,” she recalled. “It was a miserable flight.” Cardiac ablation at another hospital worked for her—but only for three years. Then the abnormal rhythm returned, this time even worse. Because of scar tissue that formed after the first procedure, however, her doctors could not repeat the initial treatment, which required passing the catheter across the atrial septum to the left atrium, where the problem was centered. So, like Mitchell, Ganschow’s doctors referred her to Knight. Using the new device, he burned a small hole in her atrial septum, passed the catheter smoothly from the right to the left atrium and eradicated the problem. Ganschow went home the next day.
Patients at 150 East Huron will benefit from a multidisciplinary team that collaborates to create health plans to improve quality of life. Photo by Dan Dry
Bradley P. Knight, MD
“I feel fantastic,” she reported one week after treatment. “I have my life back, and I’m so glad.” And sometimes the technology makes life easier for the physicians. Last fall, the University’s electrophysiology and interventional labs installed new high-tech catheterization systems that rely on giant computer-controlled magnets to guide the catheter into place. Instead of the doctor manually manipulating the catheter to multiple locations within the heart, a magnetic field gently steers the catheter tip through a predetermined path within the heart. “This system appears to be a very safe, gentle approach,” said Knight. The technology benefits the physicians, too. Instead of wearing 20 pounds of lead to shield themselves from radiation produced by a fluoroscope as they maneuver the catheter, doctors can sit comfortably in the control room watching computer screens while the new system puts the treatment tools in place, like a GPS that can drive itself. Those full metal jackets “took a toll on me, on all of us,” said Knight. Now, like the lead shields, his persistent foot pain has gone away.
Martin Burke, DO, analyzes a patient’s heart rhythms based on recent test results. Photo by Dan Dry
The Power of Personalized Medicine Benjamin Franklin famously noted that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Now, more than 200 years after Franklin uttered the thought, the University of Chicago Medical Center is bringing his idea to life through a clinic at 150 East Huron, which exists specifically for preventive, comprehensive care. Located in downtown Chicago at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Huron Street, the clinic includes specialists in cardiology, endocrinology, dermatology, sleep disorders, rheumatology, pulmonary medicine and internal medicine. So many experts in one place can better tailor care to each specific patient’s needs, saving the patient from scheduling appointments with physicians at multiple locations and times. Keith Perryea is one of those patients. A development officer for the McDonald’s Corporation, he visited Ari Levy, MD, lead physician for the Program for Personalized Health & Prevention and clinical associate at the Medical Center and 150 East Huron. Perryea’s physical exam and lab results showed he was overweight and had diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. He was at risk for the multitude of complications that diabetics face, including heart attack and stroke. But with Levy and a team of nutrition and fitness experts, Perryea began a simple lifestyle change by exercising daily. After developing his fitness routine, he improved his diet and started e-mailing Levy on his progress every day. “This is working for me because I know that someone is watching everything I do, and I am the kind of person who needs structure,” he said. Because of the changes he’s made, Perryea has lowered his cholesterol, blood sugar levels and weight—by 26 pounds. “In this clinic, we want to provide the time, the setting and the information in a very, very individualized manner,” said Martin Burke, DO, associate professor of Medicine and Medical Director at the clinic, who specializes in heart rhythm disorders. “I think the Huron practice model is how we take University of Chicago’s reputation for exceptional patient care, education, research and clinical expertise and integrate it in a different location.” The medical team includes authorities on heart diseases, advanced lung and sleep disorders, skin diseases, women’s health issues, immune disorders such as sarcoidosis, and genetic
Physicians and staff at the practice are available around the clock to answer questions about general health and specific concerns and to guide patients’ health goals. Photo by Dan Dry
diseases such as cardiomyopathy and Long QT syndrome. They also focus on cardio-metabolic treatment, risk-factor reduction and lifestyle modification. “We’re providing the patient with what they need in one setting—triaging medical risks, consolidating the three- to four-month process of scheduling, following up and coordinating into one day,” Levy said. Patient education on diet, exercise and lifestyle is available, too. The medical team creates personalized care plans to improve health, which allows patients to manage and reduce risk. On-site genetic counselors, certified dietitians and exercise physiologists help monitor and implement sustainable lifestyle changes while providing the tools and support needed to reach an individual’s pinnacle of health, as Perryea can attest. The Program for Personalized Health & Prevention (formerly known as the Executive Health Program) also accepts patients at the downtown location. “Huron’s mission is to provide comprehensive personalized care to individuals, control their risks and deliver better outcomes,” Levy said. “Better outcomes meaning healthier people living longer.” Spring 2009 27