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Jenni Sutton, left, poses with her husband, Mike Sutton, at Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo Wednesday.
MATTHEW PUTNEY / Courier Staff Photographer
MATTHEW PUTNEY / Courier Staff Photographer
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Diagnosis likely saved young man's life
By EMILY CHRISTENSEN, Courier Staff Writer
WATERLOO --- The Friday morning started like any other.
Michael Sutton was sitting on the couch, sharing breakfast with his wife Jenni. The next thing he remembers, he was being loaded into an ambulance headed to Covenant Medical Center's emergency room.
Jenni remembers the morning all too clearly. How do you forget the sight of your husband, glassy-eyed, arms flailing and then falling unresponsive?
By all accounts Michael Sutton, 22, appeared to be a healthy young man. He ran cross country and track in high school. He now works at Grainger Industrial Supply and attends school at Upper Iowa University. But, a few inexplicable episodes, at least one of which landed him in a Cedar Rapids emergency room, were all the clues Dr. Cary Rose needed to begin digging deeper into Michael Sutton's real medical condition.
"Healthy people shouldn't be passing out," said Rose, Department Chairman of Cardiology at Covenant and director of the Cardiac EP Labs. "You get one free one, but if it is happening more than once, then we need to look deeper."
Even the doctors were surprised by what they found. When Michael Sutton was admitted to the emergency room Dr. Todd Lawrence immediately ordered an electrocardiogram, or EKG. He noticed the abnormality right away and rushed the results to Rose, who was operating on another patient at the time. Rose, too, saw the problem and warned Lawrence to keep the young patient in the hospital.
What they saw would end up being diagnosed as Brugada Syndrome, a rare hereditary heart condition that causes sudden, unexpected cardiac-related death caused by severe disturbances of the rhythm of the heart. The syndrome usually appears in otherwise healthy individuals.
"An EP (electrophysiological) cardiologist can go his whole career and never see a case like this," Rose said.
Rose continued that even though the condition had been present since birth it is likely doctors never noticed the syndrome because it only presents itself in certain situations. For instance, doctors treating Michael Suttton in Cedar Rapids did an EKG which showed some abnormalities. They ran tests, but because the signs of Brugada were not present they did not test for this syndrome.
"Michael did the testing for us this time," Rose said. "He had taken antihistamines and medications that sped up his heart so we didn't need to run those tests."
It was determined that Michael Sutton would need a defibrillator, but while sifting through the paperwork it became apparent that his insurance had lapsed. Rose continued moving forward with the process and contacted Covenant's Charity Care to determine if Michael Sutton qualified for assistance. Charity Care administrators then began seeking a donor for the defibrillator, which they found in St. Jude Medical.
With his defibrillator newly installed Michael Sutton will now begin the healing process. His left arm will be kept immobile for the next two weeks to make sure he doesn't tear any of the lead wires from his heart. Then his range of motion will be limited for another two weeks as the area continues to heal. It could be a year before he regains his full range of motion.
But, eventually, Michael Sutton's life will return to normal. He can finish school. He can have children. And though he will never be able to participate in contact sports, he can resume running.
"The doctor said if I could run 10 miles before to run three now," he said.
"Maybe that means I can keep up now," Jenni joked.
Contact Emily Christensen at (319) 291-1570 or emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.
Michael Sutton was sitting on the couch, sharing breakfast with his wife Jenni. The next thing he remembers, he was being loaded into an ambulance headed to Covenant Medical Center's emergency room.
Jenni remembers the morning all too clearly. How do you forget the sight of your husband, glassy-eyed, arms flailing and then falling unresponsive?
By all accounts Michael Sutton, 22, appeared to be a healthy young man. He ran cross country and track in high school. He now works at Grainger Industrial Supply and attends school at Upper Iowa University. But, a few inexplicable episodes, at least one of which landed him in a Cedar Rapids emergency room, were all the clues Dr. Cary Rose needed to begin digging deeper into Michael Sutton's real medical condition.
"Healthy people shouldn't be passing out," said Rose, Department Chairman of Cardiology at Covenant and director of the Cardiac EP Labs. "You get one free one, but if it is happening more than once, then we need to look deeper."
Even the doctors were surprised by what they found. When Michael Sutton was admitted to the emergency room Dr. Todd Lawrence immediately ordered an electrocardiogram, or EKG. He noticed the abnormality right away and rushed the results to Rose, who was operating on another patient at the time. Rose, too, saw the problem and warned Lawrence to keep the young patient in the hospital.
What they saw would end up being diagnosed as Brugada Syndrome, a rare hereditary heart condition that causes sudden, unexpected cardiac-related death caused by severe disturbances of the rhythm of the heart. The syndrome usually appears in otherwise healthy individuals.
"An EP (electrophysiological) cardiologist can go his whole career and never see a case like this," Rose said.
Rose continued that even though the condition had been present since birth it is likely doctors never noticed the syndrome because it only presents itself in certain situations. For instance, doctors treating Michael Suttton in Cedar Rapids did an EKG which showed some abnormalities. They ran tests, but because the signs of Brugada were not present they did not test for this syndrome.
"Michael did the testing for us this time," Rose said. "He had taken antihistamines and medications that sped up his heart so we didn't need to run those tests."
It was determined that Michael Sutton would need a defibrillator, but while sifting through the paperwork it became apparent that his insurance had lapsed. Rose continued moving forward with the process and contacted Covenant's Charity Care to determine if Michael Sutton qualified for assistance. Charity Care administrators then began seeking a donor for the defibrillator, which they found in St. Jude Medical.
With his defibrillator newly installed Michael Sutton will now begin the healing process. His left arm will be kept immobile for the next two weeks to make sure he doesn't tear any of the lead wires from his heart. Then his range of motion will be limited for another two weeks as the area continues to heal. It could be a year before he regains his full range of motion.
But, eventually, Michael Sutton's life will return to normal. He can finish school. He can have children. And though he will never be able to participate in contact sports, he can resume running.
"The doctor said if I could run 10 miles before to run three now," he said.
"Maybe that means I can keep up now," Jenni joked.
Contact Emily Christensen at (319) 291-1570 or emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.
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