UH Nurse Gives Husband the Greatest Anniversary Gift

February 10, 2025

University Hospitals no-cost coronary calcium score signals warning of future heart attack

One year after marrying a chief nursing officer for University Hospitals, Mark Carlucci realized one of the greatest gifts of being married to an informed healthcare professional.

At only 54 years old, the Ashtabula County man decided to establish a new primary care provider and get a full health check-up. This included a coronary artery calcium score, the CT scan offered at no cost by University Hospitals (UH) that can indicate future risk of heart attack.

“Nearly half of all people with a significant blockage in a coronary artery present for the first time with a heart attack or cardiac death, unaware of their heart problems,” said Mehdi Shishehbor, DO, MPH, PhD, president of UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute, whose life’s work was spurred by the sudden death of his father, who died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack at age 54.

Fortunately, Dr. Shishehbor knows the magic of coronary artery calcium scoring, a test that saved Mark, who calls himself “a walking time bomb.”

“There was no chest pain and no symptoms. The test is just a regular heart screening – and it’s free,” said Ashley Carlucci, DNP, MHA, RN, CEN, CENP, UH east market CNO, who had married Mark the previous autumn. The couple met when she was managing the emergency department and ICU at UH Conneaut Medical Center and he was a maintenance supervisor there.

Caught at UH Conneaut

Mark went to UH Conneaut for that fateful calcium score, a quick test in radiology that simply requires laying on a CT scanner, fully clothed, while colorful 3-D images of the patient’s heart are obtained.

With no chest pain, shortness of breath or other symptoms, Mark would have had no reason to believe he was in danger. But his score came back as 1400, which led to an exercise stress test, cardiac catheterization and then, ultimately, double coronary artery bypass surgery.

The newlywed found out his left anterior descending (LAD) artery was 95 percent occluded. The LAD is often referred to as the “widowmaker” because if this largest coronary artery, which supplies half of the heart’s blood, gets blocked, it can lead to sudden death.

“It’s scary – he’s a young, healthy guy,” said Ashley, adding that if he’d had a heart attack, he might never have stood a chance. “He would have died. He never would have made it to the hospital.”

The Best Heart Care in Northeast Ohio

A coronary artery calcium score is offered at no charge at UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute locations across Northeast Ohio. The noninvasive test is recommended for men and woman ages 45 or older, who have no history of coronary artery disease but one or more risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease or a family history of heart disease.

A score of zero means the patient passes with flying colors and shows no sign of coronary artery disease. With a score of 100-400, the patient will be advised on lifestyle modification including increased exercise and cholesterol medication. If the score is over 400, the cardiologist must do further testing with an angiogram or a cardiac catheterization.

Mark was on blood pressure medication but had no other risk factors. He noted that over a decade earlier, he underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment for cancer when a mass the size of an orange was found near his heart. But otherwise, he had been doing well and no longer needed to follow up with oncology.

“The calcium score is a very powerful anatomic feature that has been shown to predict heart attack beyond the usual factors,” Dr. Shishehbor said. “The goal is to prevent heart attacks and cardiac death that is silent.”

A Double Thumbs-Up for Advocates

As one of the system’s top nursing leaders, Ashley had a unique perspective as the loved one of a patient in the coronary ICU and stepdown unit for the five days following her husband’s surgery at UH Cleveland Medical Center. She was impressed with all his caregivers, including nurses and therapists.

“The team downtown was beyond phenomenal and they took excellent care of him,” said Ashley, adding that Mark was extubated just 30 minutes after arriving in CICU, sitting up on the side of his bed within two hours and standing up to sit down in a chair two hours after that. “They were all welcoming, pleasant and smiling.”

Mark said he never would have had the coronary calcium score done if UH had not encouraged widespread testing by offering it at no charge. An avid archery hunter who also spends many hours on his motorbike, he keeps busy and thought he was in good shape.

“If I wasn’t married to a nurse, I can honestly say I would’ve ignored this,” said Mark. “I give a double thumbs-up to UH for offering this.”