Twenty-year-old Model and Athlete Hopes Surgery Will Inspire

Twenty-year-old Model and Dirt Bike Athlete Hopes Successful Heart Surgery at Florida Hospital Will Inspire Others

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 27, 2008 - Twenty-year-old Rachel Lietzke is an active college student and model who works out three times a week.  To meet her you would never know the Casselberry stunner recently had a complicated heart valve surgery at Florida Hospital.  Now Lietzke, who is getting back on the runway and back on her dirt bike, is hoping her experience will inspire and educate others.  "I just want other people my age who are suffering from heart disease to get the help they need.  I want them to know they may not have to live with their condition," Lietzke said.   

Lietzke has had a heart valve abnormality since youth.  But over the last year, her symptoms got so bad that she had trouble walking up a flight of stairs.  She had to quit riding dirt bikes, exercising, and even working at her part-time job.  The model gained 30 pounds within a month and a half and constantly suffered from fatigue, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations.    

Finally Lietzke found Dr. Kevin Accola, a cardiovascular surgeon at Florida Hospital, who is an expert in heart valve repair and speaks internationally on his techniques.  Dr. Accola discovered that Lietzke had mitral valve prolapse (MVP), a common heart disorder that occurs when the valve between the heart's left upper chamber (left atrium) and the left lower chamber (left ventricle) doesn't close properly.  When the left ventricle contracts, the valve's leaflets bulge (prolapse) upward or back into the atrium.  Lietzke's condition had progressed to a severe leak that required surgery.     

Since Lietzke works as a model, Dr. Accola took a non-conventional approach to the complex valve surgery.  A traditional sternotomy incision would have left a large scar in the center of her chest.  Instead, Accola used a less invasive technique called a right thoracotomy approach, which allowed him to make a minimally invasive incision under her right breast.  Accola performed a complex surgical reconstruction of her mitral valve and added a ring to support the repair, which allowed her valve to work and function normally.

Lietzke had surgery in September 2007.  She spent a week recovering in the hospital, and a couple weeks recovering at her parent's home.  By the end of the month, Lietzke organized a team for the American Heart Association's annual HeartWalk and raised more than $800 for the event.  She and her team proudly walked in the 5K just three weeks after her surgery.

Lietzke's determination to help others with heart disease did not stop there.  In December, Lietzke volunteered at Camp Boggy Creek as a counselor for kids with congestive heart failure.  She also convinced her dad to see a doctor and get treatment for his enlarged heart. 

Now, fewer than six months after surgery, Lietzke is riding her dirt bike again.  She is also attending college four days a week and working several modeling jobs.  "The scar from my surgery is hardly noticeable.  I am able to do all of the modeling jobs that I want to do.  You can see it only when I wear a small bathing suit.  But, I really don't mind.  I am so proud of it and I want people to ask me about it so I can tell them about my heart condition and the surgery that repaired it and enabled me to do the things I love to do," Lietzke said.   

With eight campuses and 16 Centra Care medical centers, Florida Hospital is one of the largest not-for-profit hospitals in the country, caring for more than one million patients each year.  Florida Hospital Cardiovascular Institute is the preeminent cardiac program serving the Central Florida community and the nation.  Dr. Kevin Accola is one of the world's leading thoracic and cardiovascular surgeons.  A renowned authority on heart valve repair and replacement, he publishes in medical journals and gives seminars to physicians around the world who send their patients to him for complex valvular surgery at Florida Hospital.   

For more information, contact Florida Hospital Media Relations at 407-303-8217. 

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