Officer shares health scare
NJ Transit Special Operations officer Paul DeGeorge detailed surviving a bicuspid aortic valve diagnosis after misattributing chest pressure — a frontline health story that highlights medical risks and wellbeing concerns among transit security staff (x.com).
Symptoms began during annual SCBA fitness testing in January 2024, when DeGeorge reported unexpected breathlessness while wearing mask and tank; he was 47 at that time. An echocardiogram ordered by cardiologist Vignesh Raghunath, MD, identified severe aortic stenosis and a congenital bicuspid aortic valve as the cause of his symptoms. Surgeon Benjamin van Boxtel laid out three treatment paths: a mechanical valve requiring lifelong anticoagulation, a bovine tissue valve likely to last ~15 years, or the technically demanding Ross procedure that van Boxtel ultimately recommended. The operation performed replaced DeGeorge’s failing aortic valve with his own pulmonary valve and then implanted a donor valve in the pulmonary position, and the team also completed an aortic root reconstruction plus aneurysm repair during the same surgery. Van Boxtel and the team framed the Ross procedure as a way to avoid lifelong blood thinners and preserve the physical capabilities necessary for DeGeorge’s Special Operations/paramedic duties with NJ Transit. Medical reporting notes DeGeorge will need lifelong cardiology follow-up and close blood-pressure monitoring in the first year as the pulmonary autograft adapts, a requirement consistent with long-term outcome studies of the Ross procedure.
