According to a story from cbc.ca, Adrienne Mahoney was alive for over a year in a half without a pulse. The only thing that kept her alive was a special machine called a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). Adrienne has Churg-Strauss syndrome, a rare autoimmune disease that destroyed most of her heart, leaving the organ functioning at only nine percent of its full capacity.
About Churg-Strauss Syndrome
Churg-Strauss syndrome, which is also known as eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, is a very rare autoimmune condition that is characterized by inflammation affecting small and medium blood vessels. It occurs in people who have a history of atopy, or airway allergic hypersensitivity. The disease follows a course that consists of three stages. The first stage consists of an allergic reaction that can cause asthma and allergic rhinitis, which can result in obstruction of the nasal passages. The second stage is distinguished by an adnormally high level of eosinophils (a type of white blood cell) in body tissue and the bloodstream. Symptoms may include fever, gastrointestinal bleeding, weight loss, abdominal pain, night sweats, coughing, and asthma. The third stage is when vasculitis (blood vessel inflammation) appears, causing blood clots, restricted blood flow to organs, heart disease, and severe abdominal distress. This stage is a medical emergency. Treatment with immunosuppressive drugs is essential to controlling the disease. To learn more about Churg-Strauss syndrome, click here.
Adrienne’s Story
The LVAD was not a permanent solution to the extensive heart damage that Adrienne experienced as a result of her disease. LVAD is considered a “bridge therapy” and that bridge only leads to two different outcomes: a heart transplant or death. Thankfully, Adrienne was able to receive a successful heart transplant.
Before the transplant operation, a scientist that was present asked Adrienne for her consent to use her original heart (or what remained of it) for research. She agreed, but only on the condition that she could look at the organ one last time after the surgery. The images of Adrienne’s heart that are included in the original article are both shocking and mesmerizing: a battered, tattered rag of flesh that hardly looks like a heart at all.
Adrienne says that her and the donor of the heart that now beats in her chest are now living in tandem, and there are now words to describe what it is like to feel a strong, healthy heart pumping after over a year of machine-assisted survival.
