Crystal Valles

"I still think about it everyday," says Valles. "It is a constant reminder to enjoy your life everyday."

It started out as just another normal day for 33 year-old Crystal Valles of Mesa, Arizona. On the morning of Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006, she left her home and headed for her job as an executive at a national logistics company.

"Everything seemed normal, I just felt like I might have a cold or something." says Valles. "I had the chills that day and couldn't warm up." When she didn't feel any better over the next couple of days, she decided it was time to seek medical attention. "On Sunday, I went in to a local emergency room. They ran a few test and sent me home thinking I had cold. But I continued to feel worse." On Monday, Valles returned to the emergency room. She was admitted to the hospital the next morning.

"All I remember about the evening was that I was drifting in and out of consciousness," says Valles. "When I woke up they told me that they thought I had suffered a heart attack. They told me they were immediately transferring me to Mayo Clinic by helicopter. I get a physical every year and I have never had any problems. I just couldn't believe this was happening."

Calling her family

While Valles waited for the helicopter to arrive, she called her family in Wisconsin. "I really couldn't believe it." says Valles. "I was doing fine a week before and now I had to tell my family and my 11 year-old daughter that I loved them and explain how bad the situation was."

Valles was transferred to Mayo Clinic in Arizona and was evaluated and diagnosed with myocarditis. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the myocardium, the thick muscular layer of the heart wall. It can develop as a complication of an infectious disease, usually caused by a virus, which was the case with Valles.

Management of myocarditis involves treating the underlying cause, such as the particular infection that may have set the stage for the inflammation. The most common type of virus that causes myocarditis is coxsackievirus B. Most affected people recover in five to seven days. Valles' case was more severe.

"The diagnostic procedure used was an endomyocardial biopsy, which allowed us to examine tissue samples of Crystal's right ventricle," says Robert Scott, M.D., a cardiac specialist and Mayo Clinic's Medical Director for Congestive Heart Failure and Heart Transplantation. "The specimen was sent for pathological evaluation and found to contain many lymphocytes, or white blood cells, which were attacking the heart muscle."

Team approach

Dr. Scott and the team at Mayo performed a biopsy of Valles' heart via a needle-puncture of the skin, rather than by using an "open" approach where inner organs or tissue are exposed. This procedure can be done without heavy sedation.

After receiving the biopsy results, the team at Mayo treated Crystal's condition with potent immunosuppressant medications to attenuate her immune system. She was also treated with immune globulin, which normalized her cardiac function. Valles remained in the ICU at Mayo Clinic Hospital for six days.

Quick diagnosis

"The team said they didn't originally think I would make it through the day on Wednesday," says Valles. "What was really amazing was the fact that the team at Mayo was able to diagnosis my condition so quickly and treat it effectively. The physicians are amazing – they truly care about what the do."

Valles has returned to her job and is enjoying time with her daughter. "My daughter just sees that we are outside playing basketball together again," says Valles. "She doesn't think about that time much anymore. I still think about it everyday. It was the craziest 10 days of my life. It is a constant reminder to enjoy your life everyday."