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(MINOT, ND) – A pretty good bowler already, Gary Lord says he’d like to work on his game further.  Now he’ll have the chance thanks to a rare heart procedure performed at Trinity Health by Cardiovascular/Thoracic Surgeon Christopher Phillips, FCCP, FACC, FACS.

Called the Florida Sleeve, the procedure lets a surgeon like Dr. Phillips preserve a patient’s natural heart tissue while correcting some of the multiple issues that can arise in patients with an enlarged aorta due to a congenital heart murmur.

Congenital heart murmur is a condition in which the aortic valve leaks, causing the heart to work harder.  While some patients can go for years without realizing they have a heart murmur, eventually it can lead to an enlarged aorta and aneurysm (fissure) in the aortic wall, which can result in a life-threatening rupture. “I hadn’t gotten treatment I would have been in big trouble,” Lord said.  “Dr. Phillips is a good healer.”

Gary was diagnosed with a leaking damaged aortic valve as well as a dilated enlarged root and ascending aneurysm.