First Medical Town Meeting Focuses OnNew Heart And Vascular Center
First Medical Town Meeting Focuses On
New Heart And Vascular Center
DANBURY â More than 70 people from the community gathered on February 8 at a Medical Town Meeting sponsored by Danbury Hospital to learn more about the hospitalâs new Regional Heart and Vascular Center.
âDelivering Open Heart Surgical Services to Greater Danbury â From Vision to Realityâ was the first Medical Town Meeting of 2005 and the first to address the hospitalâs expanded cardiac services since the July 2004 state approval of the program. In January, the hospital performed its first open heart surgeries.
The program featured Dr Michael M. Frymus, chief of cardiothoracic surgery, who was introduced by Dr Andrew M. Keller, medical executive of the Cardiovascular Service Line and chief of the cardiology section in the Department of Medicine. Dr Frymus explained that the hospital now performs surgery for coronary artery disease, heart valve disease, arterial fibrillation, and other cardiac problems.
It provides the following cardiac surgery services: coronary artery bypass; heart valve repair and replacement; aortic and great vessel surgery; treatment for arrhythmia; ventricular reduction; and mechanical assist for a failing heart.
Dr Frymus gave an overview of each procedure, showing photos of actual open-heart surgeries. He also discussed the symptoms of coronary artery disease, which can include chest pain, shortness of breath, gastrointestinal upset or nausea, decreased exercise tolerance, and generalized fatigue.
Dr Frymus came to Danbury Hospital recently to lead the cardiothoracic surgery department. Board-certified in cardiothoracic and general surgery, he most recently worked at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, where he had one of the lowest risk-adjusted mortality rates in New York State last year.
Dr Frymus brings more than 20 years of experience and interests in adult cardiac surgery that include valve repair and replacement, off pump coronary revascularization, radial arterial graft conduits, minimally invasive approaches, and mechanical circulatory support devices. He has served as a cardiothoracic surgeon at the Montefiore-Einstein Heart Center and as an assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine since 1992.
Prior to completing a residency in cardiothoracic surgery at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1989, he completed a general surgery internship and residency at David Grant USAF Medical Center, Travis AFB, California, and Waterbury Hospital, respectively. Between 1981 and 1992, Dr. Frymus completed military service with the United States Air Force, attaining the rank of major and earning an Air Force Commendation Medal for improving the delivery of surgical care at USAF Hospital, Loring AFB, Maine. He is a graduate of Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., and Fairfield University in Connecticut.