With all the incredible advances made in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, some patients’ hearts are simply too sick or damaged to undergo invasive treatments. But now at the Provena Saint Joseph Hospital Heart & Vascular Institute, appropriate patients can be treated with a new, state of the art pump called the Impella 2.5, which is designed to allow hearts to rest during treatment so they can have the life-saving procedures they need.
Provena Saint Joseph Hospital is the first hospital in the area use Impella, and successfully completed its first Impella procedure in early September. Now, cardiologists from Provena Saint Joseph Hospital can add the world’s smallest heart pump to their treatment options to assist critically ill patients that are experiencing advanced cardiac failure or shock in recovering from heart attack or other injury.
Impella allows cardiologists to treat patients in the cath lab who were once told they had no other options, as they were deemed too high risk for treatment. Now, a cardiologist can place a life-saving stent without worrying that the patient’s heart may stop or have irregular heartbeats, due to the Impella’s ability to continue pumping for the heart.
The Impella 2.5 is inserted in the catheterization laboratory through the femoral artery into the left ventricle, a procedure that lasts just a few minutes. Up to two and a half liters of blood are delivered by the pump from the left ventricle into the ascending aorta, providing the heart with active support five times faster than current devices and three to five times more blood flow than the present standard of care.
In addition to planned high risk patients, the Impella can also be used for emergent heart attack patients. “Our team can now perform cutting-edge, life-saving cardiovascular procedures in a matter of minutes,” said Kathleen Mika, Director of the Provena Saint Joseph Hospital Heart & Vascular Institute. “This is a breakthrough technology that offers our physicians a minimally invasive approach in cardiac treatment and will help change the industry standard of care in our cath lab with its seamless and immediate circulatory support for critical patients.”
I have seen this with my own eyes. It is incredible!