11/12/2025
Layne, a Saint Luke’s nurse practitioner, became a patient herself after a heart attack. She was 34 years old, healthy, and had just given birth to her third child six weeks prior. Then, something didn’t feel right one day when she dropped her kids off at school.
A burning sensation in her chest began to set in. Her hands went numb, and she got dizzy. Layne visited the school nurse, who found a weak pulse and elevated blood pressure. The school nurse called an ambulance immediately.
“It was hard to wrap my head around at the time,” said Layne. “One minute I feel great—the next I’m headed to the Emergency Department.”
Layne was taken to Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City, where imaging revealed she had a spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), a rare condition where a tear in the coronary artery interrupts blood flow to the heart. Layne was monitored in the hospital for two days and discharged with directions to return to the Emergency Department if she noticed worsening symptoms. Just 20 hours later, that same chest pain returned, and Layne was back in an ambulance, where it was confirmed she was suffering a heart attack.
For the second time, Layne was taken to Saint Luke’s Hospital and underwent emergency triple bypass surgery. She was the first SCAD patient at Saint Luke’s who needed a bypass. Dr. Anna Grodzinsky, a cardiologist and leader of the SCAD program at Saint Luke's Muriel I. Kauffman Women's Heart Center, said Layne’s case was the worst they had ever seen.
“This was a first for many of us on the team,” said Dr. Grodzinsky. “But thanks to the team here and our colleagues around the world, we know so much more about this condition than we even did 10 years ago. That made a world of difference for Layne.”
Dr. Grodzinsky and the rest of Layne’s care team thought she might need a heart transplant. Thankfully, Layne’s heart improved enough that she didn’t. After 12 days in the ICU, she was moved to the cardiac floor and reunited with her family.
View the KSHB 41 story to see how Layne is doing now: https://heyor.ca/rZ0V1u.
