The Pulmonary Embolism Response Team (PERT) at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center provided life-saving treatment for a New Hampshire woman with severe blood clots in her lungs and legs.
In May 2024, Paula Mattis, 61, was seriously injured in a fall, experiencing broken ribs and a compression fracture in her spine that kept her off her feet. Resting and slowing down should have helped her heal, but a few weeks into her recovery, she noticed that she was feeling lightheaded and fatigued.
"I snapped a quick selfie to send to my friend, and she said, ‘You look horrible. Something is wrong,'" said Paula.
Later that day, Paula found that she could not breathe after walking up the steps to her house—an everyday activity that she had performed thousands of times.
"I was so breathless I couldn't speak," said Paula. "I looked at my smartwatch, and my resting heart rate was 138."
Alarmed, Paula called a friend and stayed on the phone with her until her husband arrived home 15 minutes later.
"When my husband listened to my heart, he said he could hear it pounding," said Paula. "Then, he called 911. I just had a sense that something was very wrong."
A reputation for excellence
When emergency medical personnel arrived, they examined Paula, gave her oxygen, and asked her what hospital she wanted to go to. Fortunately, Paula chose Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
"I wanted to go to Dartmouth Hitchcock because of its excellent reputation," said Paula, who has a background in healthcare administration. "Plus, it is 20 minutes from my house."
Within minutes of her arrival at the Emergency Department, Paula's care team assessed her condition and ordered an ultrasound, blood work, and other tests. The results showed she had a pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep vein thrombosis—life-threatening blood clots in her lungs and legs.
"I had what's called a saddle PE, which is a blood clot that is on both sides of my lungs," said Paula.
As soon as Paula was diagnosed, the Dartmouth Hitchcock Pulmonary Embolism Response Team (PERT) jumped into action. Her PERT team—which included a vascular medicine specialist, interventional cardiologist, and cardiac critical care intensivist—worked together to review Paula's test results and develop a plan to provide effective treatment.
"For Paula, we performed a procedure called a catheter-directed thrombolysis—a minimally invasive procedure to help debulk the blood clot in her lungs," said Michael N. Young, MD, FACC, FSCAI, RPVI, interventional cardiologist at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. "We inserted small, thin tubes, or catheters, into her pulmonary arteries to deliver a potent medication to dissolve the lodged clot. These specialized catheters also contain ultrasound elements that vibrate a high frequency to mechanically agitate the clot. She also received blood-thinning medication to treat the blood clots both in her legs and lungs."
"After my procedure, I spent one night in the cardiac care unit and was discharged the next day," said Paula. "The entire time, I felt like my care was a priority and the team functioned like a well-oiled machine."
Life-saving, collaborative care
Paula credits the team's collaborative, personalized approach—and the excellence in care found at a regional teaching hospital—with saving her life. She also said the compassionate care, outstanding team members, and convenient location reduced stress for her and her family.
"From the doctors to the nurses to the housekeeping and nutrition staff, everyone made me feel very cared for," said Paula. "The PERT physicians had it all together, and they saved my life."