TODAY
When her neck started to hurt, Amani Odom applied a hot compress to soothe the muscles. Soon, a sharp pain “started in her chest.”
“I immediately shot out of bed, gasping for air and clutching my chest,” Odom, 27, of New York, told .com. “My partner was confused. She thought I was having a panic attack, but I told her, ‘No, this isn’t just another episode. My chest is really tight.'”
Days earlier, Odom had given birth to her second child, Kayden. Worried, the couple called 911 and Odom went to a nearby emergency room. She soon learned what was wrong: She had suffered a postpartum aortic dissection, a condition that can be fatal. As a result, she had to undergo heart surgery.
“I couldn’t stop shaking,” she said. “The heart is the most important part of the body. Without it, you can’t function. I was thinking the worst, but I tried to stay optimistic.”
“I’ve never felt pain like that”
On May 24, Odom gave birth to Kayden via cesarean section. Five days later, she developed neck discomfort and pain that alarmed her.
“I’d never felt pain like that,” Odom said. “I’d never had a heart attack, but it sure looked like that’s what was happening.” He then told his partner to call 911.
“I was terrified. I didn’t know what was happening,” she said. “That feeling in my chest was so unbearable. I was so confused.”
Paramedics took Odom’s vital signs and noted that her heart rate was normal. They told her she could stay home, but she complained.
“I just told them, ‘No, we have to go because something is definitely wrong,'” he recalls.
When he arrived at the hospital, doctors performed several tests on him, including an electrocardiogram and a CT scan. They noticed that Odom’s heart had enlarged.
“They saw a buildup around my heart,” he said. “They ruled out a heart attack. They just said it could have been something caused by a blood clot. They just kept telling me all these things.”
In the middle of the night, Odom was rushed to Mount Sinai and doctors repeated some of the tests they had run on her. That’s when they discovered the cause of Odom’s agony.
“What they saw was a tear in my (aorta),” he said. “That’s when they decided surgery was the best thing to do.”
Although Odom was apprehensive about undergoing the operation, she had the support of her family and friends to help her overcome her fears. On May 30, doctors performed surgery on her aorta, less than a week after giving birth.
“I wasn’t even fully recovered,” she recalled. “My body has endured so much in just a few days. It’s a miracle.”
Odom woke up three days after surgery feeling better than he expected.
“I had everyone laughing at my jokes,” she said. “People are supposed to keep me in a good mood, but apparently I was the one giving everyone so much joy.”
Before the operation, Odom worried about her children and what might happen if she died. Fortunately, she was able to see them while she was recovering in the intensive care unit.
“I was very grateful for that,” she said. “I’ve never been away from my first child for so long. It was the longest I’ve ever been away from him, so it was good to see him.”
Aortic dissection
Aortic dissection is “one of the leading causes of sudden death outside the hospital,” explained Dr. Ismail El-Hamamsy. Simply put, it’s when a tear occurs in the aorta, the main artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body.
“Aortic dissections are very underrecognized and undervalued,” El-Hamamsy, director of aortic surgery at Mount Sinai Health System in New York and one of Odom’s doctors, told .com. “If you asked someone what an aortic dissection was, they probably wouldn’t know. But they would definitely know what a stroke or a heart attack was.”
It’s difficult to predict who might get an aortic dissection. People with a family history, those with certain genetic conditions such as Marfan syndrome, or those with uncontrolled blood pressure are at higher risk, he added.
As for family history, “any unexplained early sudden death should not be dismissed as a myocardial infarction,” El-Hamamsy added. “Aortic dissection is more common than you think”.
Pregnancy also increases the chances of developing an aortic dissection. In Odom’s case, several factors likely contributed to her dissection.
“She probably had an underlying weakness in the aortic wall that predisposed her to dissection,” El-Hamamsy said. “Pregnancy itself can be a triggering factor for people who are at slightly higher risk.”
But El-Hamamsy insisted that aortic dissection occurs most frequently during the postpartum period.
“Everyone assumes that once the baby comes out, everything is done and the risk is over,” she said. “In reality, it’s in the first two weeks after delivery that these dissections usually occur.”
Symptoms of aortic dissection
According to Mayo Clinic, symptoms of aortic dissection may include:
- Sudden, severe pain in the chest or upper back that radiates to the neck and down the back.
- Fainting.
- Sudden, acute abdominal pain.
- Dificulty to walk.
- Difficulty catching your breath.
El-Hamamsy said Odom “was a normal, healthy, active and physically fit young woman” and that her quick response to neck and chest pains made a big difference in her recovery.
“No one had any reason to suspect he had an acute aortic dissection,” he said. “(He) realized there was something a little off about him and went to the emergency room, which probably saved his life.”
The mortality rate for aortic dissection is grim, according to El-Hamamsy. The longer the time between the onset of symptoms and treatment, the more severe it becomes.
“Within 48 hours of diagnosis, 50% of patients will have died from their acute aortic dissection,” he stressed. “With each passing hour, the risk increases (… There is no greater urgency than that.”
Treatment of aortic dissection
El-Hamamsy repaired Odom’s aortic dissection with a valve-sparing surgery.
“We replaced the aorta and were able to save his aortic valve,” he explained. “At his young age, having a mechanical valve would have been a real disaster in many ways from a quality of life perspective.”
Because Odom has his own valve instead of an artificial one, he does not need to take blood thinners for the rest of his life. Long-term use of blood thinners increases the risk of brain hemorrhage and stroke, he said.
El-Hamamsy hopes Odom’s story will increase recognition of aortic dissection as a disease.
“What we need is more awareness (about this) in the population and the medical community“Especially when people come to the emergency room with complaints that may be vague,” he said, adding that “(aortic dissections) are not uncommon.”
Back home
After six days in the hospital, Odom returned home to her family. She was excited to see her children again, but also worried.
“I was honestly scared,” she recalled. “I was up all night, nervous.”
Having the support of her partner helped her cope with the emotions she faced when she first returned home. For the first few weeks, she was unable to hold her newborn son and that made her sad.
“They didn’t want me to lift more than a certain amount,” she said. “These are the most important weeks and months you can spend with your newborn… It had a negative effect on me.”
Odom continued to heal and doctors were stunned by his recovery.
“They looked at me in amazement, as if to say, ‘I can’t believe you’re standing here in such good spirits and so strong,'” he said.
Odom hopes that when people learn about her story, they will be encouraged to speak out about any discomfort they may have.
“When you have young children, you have to be very mindful of your health and put it before everything else,” she said. “That way I’m around long enough to see them grow up and be able to grow old (with them).”
