BRICK TOWNSHIP — Eva Maravelias began losing consciousness in her Toms River home in March 2024 and later found herself at Hackensack Meridian Ocean University Medical Center (OUMC) in Brick, where the care team determined not only was the main artery to her heart torn, but other arteries as well.
Months later, Maravelias was reunited with the doctors who saved her life, at the place where the doctors saved her life, OUMC on Jack Martin Boulevard in Brick.
Dr. Arthur Okere, an interventional cardiologist, who led Maravelias’ care said, “Reuniting with Eva was magical and surreal. My first thought was how different she looked compared to what I remembered in the hospital, as she was lying in the hospital bed on a ventilator, in cardiogenic shock, with the Impella device in her groin.”
Dr. Okere described Maravelias during the reunion as talkative, vibrant, energetic, emotional and full of life.
“We shared a spiritual moment, and both agreed that God was guiding both of us. I reminded her that at 45 years old, there was a moment in the cath lab when many assumed she was brain dead, and would not wake up. Just before we flew her to the next hospital, she had suddenly opened her eyes and was responding to commands. It was an emotional moment for her recalling this,” said Dr. Okere.
Maravelias, a vice president of a retail company in New York City, is no stranger to the stressors that can accompany those who are on an upward career trajectory. Add on a regular commute from the New Jersey suburbs and a recent death in the family and you have a recipe for spontaneous coronary artery dissection, according to the center.
Dr. Okere said on treating Maravelias, “It is highly important for me to save the life and care for this wonderful patient, who is a wife and mother and has loved ones who she needed to return to. I never stop fighting for the welfare of my patients, even with insurmountable odds.”
Dr. Okere said that knowing that Maravelias’ husband, mother and sisters were all in the waiting room as they worked to keep her alive.
“My motivation was to get her back to them. I love a challenge and I gladly accepted this one where I could utilize my extensive training and experience to save a life,” said Dr. Okere.
SCAD, as it’s otherwise known, is a tear in a wall of a heart artery that can impede blood flow to the heart, cause a heart attack, or even sudden death.
It’s a rare but very serious condition that accounts for up to 4% of all cases of acute coronary syndrome. While SCAD can occur at any age to anyone, it typically affects women in their 40s and 50s and causes about 25% of heart attacks in women younger than 50.
Dr. Okere said, “Her heart was barely moving, and she was in cardiogenic shock.”
“There was a domino effect,” Maravelias said. “Everything had to go perfectly the way it did for me to be alive.”
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