Mold caused myocarditis in California man

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Friday, May 15, 2009

Ladera double heart transplant patient dies at 59

Mark Landau and wife believed to be first couple to have heart transplants.

By RASHI KESARWANI

The Orange County Register

LADERA

RANCH – Two hearts and six years after he and his wife became the first

couple to have heart transplants, Mark Landau has died. He was 59.

Landau

died May 2 at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center

after contracting pneumonia and two other infections, his wife

said. He never fully recovered from his second heart transplant, which

he received in December 2007.

Born in the Bronx, N.Y., on Feb.

12, 1950, Landau earned an associate's degree at Westchester Community

College and worked as an airline chef before marrying at 22.

They later purchased a mom and pop store in nearby Ardsley, N.Y., which Landau

primarily ran while worked in the jewelry department at

JC Penney.

In 1987, the store – which carried newspapers,

magazines, books, toys and candy – was severely damaged in a flood that

described as a " hundred years flood. "

said that

the mold in the store caused by the flood led to Landau's myocarditis,

a condition that damages the heart muscles.

" He was fine for nine years and then he tore both his right and left rotator

cuffs, " said.

Doctors

told Landau he needed a heart transplant. He received his first new

heart at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Los Angeles in 1997.

said Landau became a more optimistic person after the surgery.

The

Landaus enjoyed visiting casinos in Las Vegas and San Diego. They also

loved visiting Maui, where they vacationed every year. The couple spent

a month there after was diagnosed with heart problems and was

told by doctors that she had just four months to live. underwent

a heart transplant operation in 2003 at Cedars-Sinai by the same

surgeon, Alfredo Trento, who performed her husband's operation.

" He

helped take care of anybody that needed help, " said, adding that

they both spent time talking to people who were awaiting transplants.

Family members said Landau always put family first.

His

daughter, Chapman, 34, said she remembers her dad taking care of

his blind and mentally ill brother, Louis Landau, 57.

said her father did small kind things for his family. He used to take

his brother out to eat or to a store, or just spent time talking to

him.

said her father had a sarcastic sense of humor. " I think that's what I'll

remember about him the most, " she said.

Landau required a second heart transplant in 2007 after he developed hardening

of the arteries and congestive heart failure.

" Normally, they say a heart only lasts eight to 10 years, " said.

Landau

never fully recovered from the second transplant and was living in a

rehabilitation home in Fountain Valley when he was transported to

Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, where he died.

In

addition to his wife Landau, daughter Chapman and brother

Louis Landau, Mark Landau is survived by a son, Larry Landau, of

Mission Viejo, and a grandson, Chapman.

Landau was cremated on May 7 and a memorial service was held on May 9 at

's home.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/mark-sandra-heart-2414018-landau-transplant#