UNT Health physician helps young patient return to the court

Teen-age basketball star Kylie Ducat was frustrated that 12 doctors were unable to explain her chest pain and turned to UNT Health‘s Albert Yurvati, DO (’86).

For a year Ducat experienced pain in her chest that radiated to her back, neck and shoulders. At times she couldn’t breathe. Playing basketball was out of the question. Her team was on track to make the playoffs – without her. Yurvati, the 13th physician she’d seen, discovered an injury to the xiphoid process at the base of her sternum.

What caused it to happen? A freak injury. Kylie had been running cross country when she was struck by a car. She knew a rib was fractured but didn’t know why the pain continued after the rib healed. Thus began the journey to physician after physician until she found Yurvati.

"It was the first thing I thought of," he said. "It was pressing on the sac enclosing her heart. That’s why she couldn’t breathe and why it was so painful."

Ten weeks after surgery, Kylie was back on the basketball court. In that first playoff game she scored a three-pointer. And she was on the team when the Lady Eagles from Brock High School, near Weatherford, won the 2A state championship.

"I was thrilled they won the state championship," Yurvati said. "It’s rewarding just to know the importance of that diagnosis and to be able to change a kid’s life like that. If the doctors had put her on antipsychotics, her life would never have been the same."

Yurvati bought a sponsorship package to the upcoming Brock Lady Eagles Showcase Basketball Tournament on Nov. 29-Dec. 1, a fundraiser for the school, and said he was looking forward to attending.

Recent News

Kirk A. Calhoun Bio
  • Community
|Feb 5, 2025

Dr. Kirk Calhoun brings expertise and vision to UNTHSC

Kirk Calhoun, M.D., FACP, brings more than 30 years of experience in academic medicine and health care leadership to his new role as interim president of The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, a position he assumed on Feb. 1. Calhoun most recently served as president o...
Prayerbear Party With Robin
  • Community
|Feb 5, 2025

TCOM student takes volunteering to a new level at Cook Children’s Medical Center

When you see Kathryn Adkins scroll through her journal of 110 pages of meaningful and memorable experiences, you know why she’s been a volunteer at Cook Children’s Medical Center since 2017. When you hear her speak about being a volunteer, you hear the passion that surrounds her more than 1,100 ...
Con Holin Macklin Solo Shot Dsc 4085 (1)
  • Our People
|Feb 3, 2025

Carved out of curiosity and motivation, Hollin Macklin’s path through nursing never ends

Hollin Macklin’s nursing journey began earlier than most. When Take Your Child to Work Day came around, she would accompany her mother to the hospital where she worked as a nurse, leaving her with a lasting impression. “Watching her provide care and compassion to her patients while balancing ...
Jacqueline Ladesma
  • Community
|Feb 3, 2025

UNTHSC PA students bring hope through handwritten letters

First-year physician assistant students at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth are demonstrating their commitment to service by collaborating with Letters Against Depression, a national nonprofit that provides hope and encouragement to individuals struggling with mental...