Stent Salesman Saves an AAA Patient, Spreading Holiday and Health Care Cheer

Philadelphia's local news site posted an A.P. article yesterday on an abdominal aortic aneurysm patient in dire straits for an appropriately sized stent graft-on Christmas Eve, no less. A salesman from W.L. Gore, a medical supply company, stepped up to the plate.

Check out a summary below or the full story here.

Christmas Eve was nearly a day of mourning for James Spruill's family. An aneurysm in the Pleasantville, N.J. resident's abdomen ruptured and was leaking blood into the surrounding cavity. Four out of five people don't even make it into surgery, said Dr. Jeffrey Gosin, a vascular surgeon at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point. Of those who do get into the O.R., half die of complications.

In this case, the artery had swollen to the size of an eggplant. A crippling backache forced Spruill, 56, to the emergency room at Shore Memorial Hospital. He hadn't slept well in weeks, and the pain doubled him over when he was awake. A CT scan revealed the huge bulge in Spruill's aorta.

"This type of aneurysm is commonly found during an unrelated test," Dr. Gosin said. "Until it leaks, most people don't know they have one."

Surgeons had to repair the vessel and, nationwide, emergency surgeries on abdominal aneurysms kill as many people as they save. "There are two ways to fix the rupture: one is to open up the belly. That's in an emergency."

That kind of surgery means opening a patient up from breastbone to pubic bone, Dr. Gosin said, which can bring serious complications.

But if the aneurysm is found early enough, a surgeon has time to plan for the second way to fix the swollen artery before it bursts. A small cut is made at the top of the leg and a stent graft is threaded up into the aorta. Of course these stents come in a variety of sizes and shapes-to match the patient-and each one costs about $11,000. This kind of customization means hospitals can't afford to keep an inventory of the tubes.

"You never know what size graft you'll need for a patient," Dr. Gosin said, "until you've seen the scans." And while Gosin had the CT... it was 10:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve. Spruill needed immediate surgery or he would die.

It would take a miracle for the doctor to get the proper-sized stent graft in time to do a minimally invasive operation.

"I know it takes about 45 minutes to get someone ready for surgery. And I have a good relationship with a company that makes the grafts."

David Pond was at the mall [in Cherry Hill, N.J.] buying Christmas gifts when he got a call from Dr. Gosin. Pond has worked several years as sales representative for W.L. Gore, a medical supply company.

"I left the mall right away," said Pond, who carries a full inventory of supplies in his car for emergencies. "I know if it was my dad, I'd want someone to help him out.

"Normally, though, it's too late," Pond continued. "The patients usually die before they get to the operating table."

Not this time. Pond dropped the gifts in the store, and took off for Somers Point. An hour later, he met Dr. Gosin in surgery. The operation took almost two hours, and Pond waited until Spruill was in recovery before leaving.

"It's what I do," Pond said. "I was just glad to hear the patient was doing well."

"I was their gift," Spruill said of the ordeal and the impact on his family. "My life was the present."

What a feel-good story and happy ending. Unfortunately, I end up reading a lot of medical care stories that don't end so positively-medical errors, insurance woes, referral red rape. David Pond rose to the occasion and immediately provided the tool needed to save a man's life.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Is this type of interaction characteristic of your relationships with supply/equipment vendors? It seems "above and beyond"...is it so?