Fast response, advanced treatment saved Kentfield man from devastating cardiac arrest

Ken Drasner hadn’t been feeling well all week. Maybe it was indigestion, he thought. Whatever it was, he was determined not to let it slow him down. On Wednesday, he attacked the Stairmaster for 50 minutes without feeling any undue exertion or pain. He still felt lousy that night, and the next one, too. Finally, his wife remarked, “Hasn’t this gone on too long?”

But the 62-year-old Kentfield resident, a doctor and professor of clinical anesthesia at UCSF, couldn’t put his finger on anything specific.

“As a physician I’ve been frustrated when patients come in complaining but can only give vague answers when asked for symptoms,” said Drasner. “But that’s exactly how I responded to my wife’s questions. The last thing I would have pointed to was anything ‘cardiac.

On Friday, May 8th, 2010, Drasner dropped dead of cardiac arrest.

His wife, a nurse anesthetist, jumped into action, calling 911 while beginning CPR. When the Kentfield Fire Department arrived they used a defibrillator to resuscitate Drasner, shocking his heart into sinus rhythm. Then they rushed him to Marin General Hospital where doctors found complete blockage of one of Drasner's coronary vessels. Dr. Brian Strunk, a cardiologist who practices at Marin General Hospital, immediately opened the blocked vessel by inserting a stent through the femoral artery.

Statistically, the odds of survival after a cardiac event of this magnitude are dismal, and many who do survive sustain significant permanent brain damage. Fortunately, Marin General Hospital is one of the few hospitals in the region with the training and technology necessary to apply the latest and most advanced treatment: hypothermic cooling. Even though it is considered the “gold standard” for treatment of cardiac arrest and is part of the American Heart Association’s cardiac care guidelines, only a fraction of hospitals nationwide have the capability to use it. A cooling catheter must be inserted to lower the body temperature to about 91 degrees, reducing overall oxygen consumption and protecting brain cells from damage, which is a common result of “sudden death.”

Hypothermic cooling has to be accomplished quickly for maximum benefit, and luckily in this case, it was. Drasner’s coma lasted for 24 hours and the outcome was “almost miraculous,” says Drasner. His recovery was so complete that six weeks later he was vacationing in France with his family. “I’m extremely grateful to my wife, the Kentfield Fire Department, Dr. Strunk, and Marin General Hospital,” he says.

Heart disease wasn’t even on Drasner’s radar. “I had a pretty good lipid profile—high HDL cholesterol and relatively low LDL—and although I also had a family history of heart disease on my mother’s side, my dad’s coronary vessels were clean,” he says. “I thought my relatively good diet and huge amount of daily exercise reduced my risk.”

But there were warning signs. He had been diagnosed with hypertension, and at 5’6” and 190 lbs. he knew he needed to lose weight. Fifteen years of smoking early in life didn’t do him any good either—in fact, he thinks it was probably the most damaging factor. “I’ve seen enough in the operating room to know what many years of smoking does to arteries and internal organs,” he says.

But even without the added risk of smoking, Drasner is convinced that most people—including himself—would benefit from a more aggressive approach to controlling blood pressure. “Lose weight, maintain a good diet, and exercise,” he advises. “And don’t hesitate for a moment to resort to medication. The fact is that everyone’s arteries get harder with age and their natural blood pressure is higher than it should be. There’s real benefit to taking blood pressure-lowering drugs. Nine times out of ten, it’s the only thing that’s really going to be effective.”

Drasner is taking his own advice. He takes a daily dose of Plavix, aspirin and antithrombotic agents, despite having lost 15 pounds, and reduced the fat and meat in his diet. He continues to exercise religiously.

He no longer takes anything for granted. He and his wife plan to retire earlier, to take advantage of whatever healthy years lie ahead and fulfill their dream of moving to France.

“I know I was lucky that my wife jumped in immediately to perform CPR, that the local fire department was able to resuscitate me and that Dr. Strunk and Marin General had the technology and skill to administer the treatment that insured the best outcome,” he says. “Without a doubt it could have turned out differently. I’m grateful to have received truly world class care right here in Marin—I don’t think I could have gotten better care anywhere.”