• KCTV: Clinical Trial at Saint Luke's Saves Local Firefighter's Life

    • KCTV: Clinical Trial at Saint Luke's Saves Local Firefighter's Life

    A groundbreaking treatment at Saint Luke's changed everything for former Chillicothe firefighter Nathan Zabka, who was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 2021.

    1 minute

    Following a routine restaurant fire call in 2021, former Chillicothe firefighter Nathan Zabka received a life-threatening diagnosis.

    He had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM, causing the father of 11 debilitating symptoms. That was until Dr. Michael Nassif, a heart failure cardiologist at Saint Lukes, offered a lifeline: a clinical trial testing a new medication called aficamten.

    KCTV talked with Nathan and Dr. Timothy Fendler, cardiologist with Saint Luke's Cardiovascular Consultants, about the groundbreaking drug that brought almost instant relief.