Giving Heart Patients New Life

Samantha Frost thought it was normal that she’d feel out of breath while doing everyday things, like warming up during softball games in high school or climbing the stairs at work. She would tell herself that she was simply out of shape.

But in March 2021, after she fainted in a restaurant, she learned she had vasovagal syncope, a condition that causes the heart rate and blood pressure to drop suddenly, reducing blood flow to the brain. “I was told it shouldn’t happen again but, if it does, to call a doctor,” says Samantha, who is now 27. That was about it.”

For several months afterward, however, feeling faint was a regular occurrence.

“I’d be doing my makeup and would start feeling faint to the point where I couldn’t hold myself up in a chair, so I’d crawl to the floor and kind of let it figure itself out,” Samantha recalls. “One time it woke me up and I felt like I was going to faint, but I was already laying down and there was nothing I could do to feel better. I realized that probably shouldn’t be happening, so I decided to find a cardiologist.”

In August 2023, after a battery of tests that included a cardiac MRI, Samantha learned she had an atrial septal defect (ASD), a congenital condition in which there is a hole in the septum, or heart wall, that divides the atria, or upper chambers. An ASD hole is typically 10 to 15 millimeters but, in Samantha’s case, it was a whopping 30 to 35 millimeters, and she knew she had to do something about it — fast.

Samantha had moved to Nashville in 2018 to be with her now husband, and struggled to find a local physician with the experience in ASD she needed. She took her search for care to NewYork-Presbyterian, where her father had surgery in 2021 to treat inflammation of the pericardium, the sac that surrounds the heart. She called Thomas Cosola, who was the physician assistant on her father’s surgery, and after he reviewed her scans, he told Samantha that she should see Dr. Arnar Geirsson, a pioneer in robotic surgery and the new director of the Cardiovascular Institute and Surgical Heart Valve Program at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

In robotic surgery, patients experience reduced scarring, less bleeding, decreased pain, shorter hospital stays, and a quicker recovery time compared to conventional surgeries. “Robotic is the way to go,” Samantha recalls Thomas telling her. “And Dr. Geirsson is a great surgeon.”

In late September, Samantha went to New York for a wedding, so she met with Dr. Geirsson and Dr. Emile Bacha, chief of the Division of Cardiac, Thoracic, and Vascular Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, for a surgical consult. She knew it was possible that they might want to move quickly, so she packed enough luggage to stay a month.

“They were two of the nicest people I’ve ever met,” Samantha recalls of that first meeting. “Dr. Geirsson answered every question I had. He was confident that it was an easy fix, and that it would be permanent. I wouldn’t be in the hospital for too long and I’d be back up and running and feel like a whole new person in three months.”

Her mind was made up and, within a week, Samantha’s robotic surgery to close the hole in her heart was scheduled.

Closing a hole in the heart is typically done through open heart surgery. In Samantha’s case, Dr. Geirsson performed a minimally invasive procedure to patch her heart, through an incision under her armpit with the assistance of the robotic arms.

Dr. Geirsson has spent his career advancing robotic surgery and cites its level of safety and effectiveness.

“It’s less invasive for the patient,” he says. “There’s less trauma to the surrounding tissue around the heart, and you do the same or even a better operation with a robot. The robot provides you with 10 times magnification and 3D vision, offering unparalleled exposure.”

Dr. Geirsson has performed more than 500 robotic surgeries and is considered one of the world’s leading robotic cardiac surgeons. Under his leadership, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center is now one of the top robotic cardiac surgery programs in the United States in terms of volume.

“Robotics is a great example of the importance of setting up a team, and choreographing an operation for safety and efficiency,” said Dr. Geirsson. “I love what I do. Every day you’re helping people; you’re improving their symptoms and prolonging life. It’s gratifying and challenging.”

Samantha was one of Dr. Geirsson’s first surgeries in his new position.“When you treat young adults, they have their whole life in front of them,” Dr. Geirsson says.

“Treating Samantha’s condition with robotic surgery was effective, and she had a fast recovery. She did very, very well.”

In fact, she did so well that she was discharged three days after surgery.

“I was very happy to go home,” she says. “I remember we had a huge snowstorm and were iced in for a week and a half. So I just walked because I couldn’t do anything else. One day I walked 10 miles straight without taking a break, and I could breathe. I felt amazing.”

Today, less than a year since her surgery, Samantha and her husband are planning to start a family, something they wanted to do before her diagnosis but, as ASD puts a lot of stress on the heart, couldn’t genuinely consider.

“They saved my life, and I’m forever grateful for that,” says Samantha.

“It’s very gratifying as a doctor to see patients come in very happy after an operation,” says Dr. Geirsson of Samantha’s post-op visits, which are a mix of virtual and in-person appointments.

Samantha remains grateful to Dr. Geirsson and the entire NewYork-Presbyterian team for not only successfully treating her condition, but for doing it as quickly and effectively, and minimally invasively, as possible.

“Robotics helped me get up and running. I was back to work in five weeks, which is kind of crazy,” she says. “I didn’t know what normal ever felt like. Now, I feel like a whole new person. These people changed my life.”