For any parent, there is no distance too great to
travel if it meant their child could have a rare
fourth chance at life. Such was the case for Oleg
Massaev, who recently traveled with his 20-yearold
son, Sergei, from their native Russian city of
Petrozavodsk to Winthrop-
University Hospital, where an
outstanding team of specialists
carried out a life-saving
operation that could add
decades to Sergei's life.
Born with aortic valve
stenosis, a life threatening
congenital heart defect in
which the aortic valve narrows
causing the heart to
work harder to pump blood,
Sergei underwent his first
open-heart surgery in Russia
at the age of two. But during
childhood, Sergei's condition
worsened and in 2000,
at the age of 10, he came to
the United States for a lifesaving
operation thanks to
the generous efforts of Sea
Cliff-based nonprofit organization,
Russian Gift of Life.
"In its 21 year existence,
Russian Gift of Life has helped save the lives of
over 1,000 Russian children born with treatable
heart defects," said Michael Yurieff, Executive
Director of the organization. The vision of the
Russian Gift of Life is to help save the lives of as
many Russian children born with treatable heart
defects as possible by funding pediatric heart surgeries,
supporting medical missions to Russia to
develop children's heart centers, and continuing
to sponsor a unique matching grant program that
is helping to revive a tradition of giving in Russia.
Oleg Massaev with son Sergei, who recently
underwent a life-saving operation at Winthrop.
Sergei underwent his first surgery in the U.S.
at New York University (NYU) Medical Center to
repair a ventricular septal defect. But after only a
year, Sergei's condition declined again and he
returned to New York for a second surgery. Last
year, his condition deteriorated
again and his father, Oleg,
once again reached out to
Russian Gift of Life for help.
Sergei's complicated
case came to the attention
of Russian Gift of Life
Board Member Alexander
Hindenburg, MD, Attend -
ing Medical Oncologist at
Winthrop, who brought it to
the attention of his colleague
Scott Schubach, MD,
Chair man of Winthrop's
Department of Thoracic
and Cardiovascular Surgery.
"I was more than confident
in our ability to take
on such a challenging case,"
said Dr. Schubach. "With
our highly sophisticated,
state-of-the-art facilities and
multidisciplinary team of
specialists who are leaders in
their fields, Winthrop was a natural choice for
treating Sergei's complex aortic condition."
Through a multispecialty team approach,
drawing upon the expertise of various Winthrop
surgeons, hematologists and other specialists,
Sergei's case was carefully evaluated and assessed.
Sergei underwent comprehensive testing under
the direction of Kevin Marzo, MD, Chief of
Cardiology, and Carlos Montoya, MD, Chief of
Pediatric Cardiology.
Despite being a very high-risk surgical
candidate, as this would be Sergei's
fourth time undergoing surgery, he was
taken to Winthrop's operating room on
October 22, 2010 under the direction of
Dr. Schubach, along with his colleagues
cardiothoracic surgeons John A. Goncalves,
Jr., MD, and William Kokotos, MD,
where both his aortic and mitral valves
were replaced with mechanical valves.
Although the cardiac portion of the
operation went well, Sergei developed
intra-abdominal bleeding,
which required exploration with
the assistance of George Hines,
MD, Winthrop's Chief of
Vascular Surgery. The days and
weeks following the surgery were
very difficult – Sergei returned to
the operating room twice so that
doctors could re-explore bleeding
in the abdomen before ultimately
closing it.
Despite the magnitude of the
procedure and the ensuing complications,
Sergei made a dramatic
recovery thanks to the world-class care he
received from an outstanding team of
doctors, nurses and physician assistants in
Winthrop's cardiac and surgical intensive
care units.
"Sergei's remarkable recovery is a
testament to Winthrop's ability to successfully
manage such a complex case
while delivering the best possible results
to the patient," said Dr. Schubach.
The compassionate and state-of-theart
care delivered by Winthrop's expert
team as well as Sergei's perseverance in
the fight for his life certainly paid off. A
post-operative echocardiogram revealed
excellent function of both of the newly
placed valves and no intra-abdominal
problems related to his intra-operative
bleeding, and Sergei was discharged
from Winthrop on November 18, 2010.
As he continued on his journey
towards a full recovery, Sergei and his
father were fortunate to stay in The
Ronald McDonald House of Long
Island, where they were visited daily by
Mr. Yurieff and Arkadiy Bogatyryov,
Winthrop Cardiovascular Specialist and
native of Russia who not only played an
important role in Sergei's care, but developed
a special bond with the boy and his
father during their time at Winthrop.
"From translating from English to
Russian and explaining medical issues,
to bringing them home-cooked Russian
meals to comfort them during the long
hospitalization, I was more than happy
to help Sergei and Oleg in any way possible,"
said Mr. Bogatyryov.
Sergei Massaev (above, front row, fourth
from left) and his father Oleg (back row,
second from left) developed special bonds
with Winthrop's cardiac team and all of the
caregivers in the Surgical Intensive Care
Unit on 4 North.
Just days before the father and son
began their long journey back to Russia,
Sergei and Oleg returned to Winthrop
to express their heartfelt thanks during a
special Thanksgiving luncheon that the
Hospital hosted in their honor.
"I was really struck by how caring
the doctors and all the staff at Winthrop
are. It was obvious to me that apart from
being very professional, everyone truly
cared about me," said Sergei through a
translator. "We thank God that we found
The Russian Gift of Life and were able to
come to the U.S. and that the doctors
here at Winthrop saved my life."
"As a member of the Board of
Directors, I am proud of the way that
Winthrop-University Hospital stepped up
to take on such an exceptionally difficult
case," said Theodora Hooton, who was
involved in the early discussions regarding
Sergei's case. "I am thankful to all of the
members of the Winthrop team, especially
Dr. Schubach and Dr. Marzo, for the
tireless hours of care they provided to
Sergei, and it gives me great joy to know
that it turned out to be such a success."
Today, Mr. Bogatyryov remains in
close contact with Sergei and Oleg via
telephone and a popular social networking
website, and is happy to report just
how remarkable the young man is doing.
"Sergei is walking three miles a day
and feels great! He is truly grateful for
the care he received at Winthrop that has
changed his life," he said.
For additional information about
cutting-edge cardiac services at Winthrop,
call 1-866-WINTHROP.
|
Vol. 21, No. 1
Winter/Spring 2011
Back to Publications
|
