Dr. Peter Liu and Mary ArmourSUPPLIED
In sudden cardiac arrest, every minute that passes before the heart is restarted counts. When the brain is deprived of oxygen for more than four to six minutes, the risk of irreparable damage increases exponentially.
Mary Armour counts herself fortunate. She had a cardiac arrest four years ago, at age 56, at her office at the Ottawa airport, where first responders were quick to arrive.
“I was at my desk on a Wednesday afternoon around two o’clock,” she recalls. “I remember thinking, ‘I don’t feel well, perhaps I should let someone know.’ Then I stood up and passed out.”
Armour woke up several days later in the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, where she was told her heart had stopped. She also learned that the team evaluating her condition had been so concerned about potential loss of cognitive function that they had told her daughters, “There’s a chance your mom will wake up and not know who you are.”
When her care team offered to enroll Armour in a clinical trial where her body was cooled to a certain degree to preserve brain function, her daughters said yes. “It made a big difference because when I came out of it, I hadn’t suffered any cognitive loss,” Armour explains.
The experience inspired her to join the heart institute’s patient alumni community and a new research endeavour called BHRIITE, led by Dr. Peter Liu, a cardiologist with the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. The project is funded by Heart & Stroke and Brain Canada Foundation, through the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), Brain Canada’s innovative partnership with the Government of Canada, through Health Canada.
Prior to her cardiac arrest, Armour had no history of heart disease and her high blood pressure had been controlled with medication. Yet in hindsight, she thinks there may have been subtle warning signs.
“There were times when I felt my heart racing,” she notes, adding that subsequent tests performed by the medical team to discover the cause came back inconclusive.
“They described it as an electrical malfunction but didn’t find any blockages or other obvious causes. In the end, after three weeks in the hospital, I was simply discharged,” says Armour, who now takes stronger medication that regulates her blood pressure and keeps her heart from beating too fast. “I now get tired at night, but otherwise, I haven’t slowed down.”
She sees a cardiologist for regular checkups and also has a micro defibrillator, an electronic device that is designed to continuously monitor and help regulate potentially life-threatening electrical problems with the heart. “It’s there in the background like an insurance policy,” she says, “but it hasn’t been needed yet.”
Armour, who now has a young grandson, attributes her recovery to the excellent care she received. She hopes her participation in BHRIITE can help to create better outcomes in the future.
“When this opportunity came up, I really wanted to be part of the group,” she says. “I think about my family and potential genetic influences that could put them at risk, so I’m happy to be able to contribute to a better understanding of the heart-brain connection.”
Advertising feature produced by Randall Anthony Communications with Brain Canada and Heart & Stroke. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.