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Nassau County Attorney
Survives Sepsis
By Kristen Longo
VALLEY STREAM — Nassau
County Attorney John
Ciampoli showed up at
Franklin Hospital mainly to
ease the minds of family and
friends. He hadn’t been feeling
well for over a week, and the
antibiotics he was taking did
not seem to be knocking out
an infection. Yet he continued
to put in long hours. When he
arrived at the hospital, he was
in a hurry to get back to work
— but five hours later, he was
on a ventilator.
“Anywhere from two to
four hours longer getting to
the hospital, it would have
been a one-way trip,” said Mr.
Ciampoli. “When they asked,
‘Did they take your temperature?
What was it?’ I said,
`Sure, they took my temperature,
it was 250 degrees,’ and
my friend who was there with
me said, ‘Listen, I know this
guy, he has a sense of humor —
that wasn’t his sense of humor.
He’s losing it.’” That was
Mr. Ciampoli’s last memory
until he woke up a week later.
Thanks to the expertise of
Southside Establishes Surgical Program
for Complex Liver, Pancreas Diseases
BAY SHORE — Patients with complex problems of the liver, bile
ducts and pancreas can now find state-of-the-art surgical care at
Southside Hospital’s new Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery
Program. It is led by Juan Madariaga, MD, PhD, who was trained
and practiced as a liver surgeon at the prestigious University of
Pittsburgh’s Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute and subsequently
at the University of Miami Transplant Center.
Dr. Madariaga said patients with complex liver or biliary
problems are often referred to the North Shore-LIJ Health System
because of its “expertise and good patient outcomes.”
No Need to Travel for Care
“It’s great news for patients and their families that they don’t
have to travel outside of their local community to find the highly
specialized care they need,” said Christopher Nelson, assistant vice
president of surgery. “The expansion of our hepatobiliary surgery
program allows patients to stay in the community where they
reside, closer to family and friends who play a crucial role in the
recovery process.”
clinicians at Franklin Hospital,
he is alive to share his story.
Mr. Ciampoli was suffering
from sepsis, an overblown
immune response that causes
blood pressure to drop and
major organs to fail. “In the
emergency departments across
North Shore-LIJ, we have a
very heightened awareness
of sepsis,” said John Rohe,
MD, director of emergency
medicine at Franklin.“We
have an evidence-based sepsis
protocol, which has helped us
reduce the number of deaths.”
“The quicker we can
recognize sepsis, the better
patients respond clinically,” said
Scott Horowitz, MD, acting
chief of infectious disease at
Franklin. Mr. Ciampoli is
grateful that he went to Franklin
for treatment. “The people
there knew how to react, knew
what to do, and they pulled me
through,” he said.
To see a video of Mr.
Ciampoli’s story, visit http://
bit.ly/nslijsurvivingsepsis
Common conditions that hepatobiliary surgeons treat include
liver, gallbladder or bile duct cancer; noncancerous liver tumors;
narrowing or blockages of the bile ducts; and injury to the liver or
bile ducts.
The program employs a multidisciplinary team, including
a hepatobiliary surgeon and a variety of specialists, who meet to
review and discuss patients’ test results and develop individualized
treatment plans.
Minimally Invasive Procedures Available
The surgeons in the program are skilled in open, laparoscopic
and robotic methods of surgical treatment of disease. Because
minimally invasive, cutting-edge surgery of the liver can mean
faster patient recovery and less pain, surgeons opt for it whenever
possible, Dr. Madariaga said. Patients also receive high-quality
postoperative care from a highly skilled and experienced team to
ensure a safe and speedy recovery. “With such a comprehensive
and experienced team,” Dr. Madariaga said, “our patients can be
assured of receiving the highest level of care.”
The New Standard 21