Suffolk Reporter

The Stony Brook Medicine Department of Surgery is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024. The following story exemplifies the department's decades-long commitment to changing and saving lives through skill, innovation, and dedication.

Nikoleta “Niki” Pita was 16 years old when doctors in Greece diagnosed her with thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) after an injury during training. The diagnosis threatened to end her boxing career and dreams of representing Greece in the 2016 Olympic Games.

“I was way too young to give up on my dreams,” said Pita. “I was never going to give up boxing….I thought ‘I will find a way. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next month or next year. But one thing is certain. I will be a boxing champion one day.’”

After consulting various doctors in Greece for a year, Pita’s team doctor informed her about a physician attending an international medical conference in Athens. With hope, Pita and her parents attended the conference with her medical records.

The physician they sought was Dr. Apostolos Tassiopoulos, Chief of the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery at Stony Brook Surgery and now chair of the Department of Surgery. Dr. Tassiopoulos explained that TOS often affects athletes like boxers and that symptoms vary based on which structures—nerves, veins, or arteries—are compressed.

Dr. Tassiopoulos proposed thoracic outlet surgery to alleviate the compression causing her symptoms, offering her a chance to return to full activity within three to four months post-surgery.

Pita was informed that she could have the surgery at Stony Brook University Hospital if she traveled to the United States within three weeks.

Arriving in New York on August 31, 2014, Pita underwent surgery the next day at Stony Brook University Hospital performed by Drs. Tassiopoulos and Thomas V. Bilfinger (then professor of surgery and director of thoracic surgery).

A week later, Pita returned to Greece with her parents. She regards the surgery as a milestone in her boxing career that “helped me to become a better, stronger, and wiser version of myself.” Resuming training immediately upon returning home, she expressed gratitude by wearing Stony Brook memorabilia during competitions.

Visit the Stony Brook Medicine Surgery website for more details about Pita’s journey from boxing to law.