Doctors at AIG Hospitals used the ‘world’s smallest heart pump’ while performing angioplasty on a high-risk patient recently. Uday Kiran Anne said the heart pump is as thick as a pen. It was inserted through groin artery and removed at the end of around three-hour procedure. The patient was discharged three days after the surgery and his condition was stable.
The 70-year-old male patient was admitted at the hospital on June 14 complaining of breathlessness, chest pain, and severe weakness. After primary diagnosis with ECG and ECHO, the patient was diagnosed with heart failure and severely decreased heart pumping.
Patient was stabilised and angiogram was done which further revealed all three main arteries of the heart, including left main coronary artery, were severely blocked. He was a post-liver transplant patient who had co-morbidities including hypertension, anaemia, and acute kidney injury.
A multidisciplinary team was formed consisting of a cardiac surgeon, anesthesiologist, radiologist, liver transplant expert, hepatologist, nephrologist and led by interventional cardiologists Anuj Kiran, Anuj Kapadia, Rajeev Menon and Swaroop Bharadi.
Dr Uday Kiran said that heart pumping function decreases during the surgery. To maintain normal flow of blood to other organs during the surgery, a new non-surgical heart pump called IMPELLA, a US-FDA approved device, was used.
“The IMPELLA device which is known as the ‘world’s smallest heart pump’ was inserted into the heart through the groin artery under local anaesthesia and helped in stabilising heart function and ensuring blood flow to critical organs during procedure. It replicates the pumping function of the heart, providing blood flow of 3.5 litres per min. The overall procedure lasted for three hours,” informed a press release.
