On a summer evening in the early 1980s, Byron Thompson—a healthy, active man in his 20s—collapsed in a mid-city roller-skating rink. One minute, he was doing jumps and flips, and the next, he couldn’t breathe and lost consciousness.
Thompson had experienced ventricular tachycardia (V-tach) and received a shocking diagnosis: arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), a genetic heart defect that causes fatty tissue to replace heart muscle, leading to dangerously irregular heartbeats.
Doctors told Thompson they couldn’t cure his condition and that he wouldn’t live past his mid-40s. Over the next few decades, he stayed active and lived as if each day could be his last—until his health deteriorated so dramatically that only a heart transplant could help.
Eventually, in 2024, Cedars-Sinai experts worked closely with Thompson’s advocates to ensure a successful care plan, and they performed a lifesaving operation despite his multiple organ failure and antibodies that required desensitization. Cedars-Sinaiwhich houses cohesive teams of highly trained experts, is uniquely positioned to treat complex cases like Thompson’s.
Today, Thompson is back to swing dancing up to six days a week and deepening connections to his community.
“He made a miraculous recovery and now has a great quality of life,” said David Chang, MD, a cardiologist who treated Thompson.
