Minimally invasive pump available at WK
Willis-Knighton Heart & Vascular Institute at the Willis-Knighton Medical Center is one of only a few hospitals in the country that has introduced the Impella heart pump technology platform from Abiomed.
The institute works as one of the region’s largest heart program, offering a range of services including diagnosis and treatment for heart problems. The implementation of the new Impella heart pump technology furthers WK’s mission of improving the health and wellbeing of its patients.
Dr. Rodney Reeves, with Advanced Cardiovascular Specialists, said the Impella heart pump has a number of benefits and advantages in improving quality patient care. The Impella is a new, minimally invasive heart technology and is the world’s smallest heart pump.
“The Impella heart pump is a very small motorized pump that can be inserted directly into the main squeezing chamber of the heart in a quick and minimally invasive fashion,” Reeves said. “It aids in the forward flow of blood through the circulatory system. It can be used to temporarily support a weakened heart in settings such as a major heart attack or other conditions that impair the heart’s ability to pump blood sufficiently on its own. It can also be used in stable, but fragile patients to allow physicians to more fully treat blocked arteries without overly stressing the heart.”
The Willis-Knighton Heart & Vascular Institute is dedicated to achieving the highest standards of care in offering their patients the best therapies available in heart healthcare.
The Impella platform aids in this effort by giving physicians and patients opportunities for better outcomes.
“It gives a more robust form of support to an acutely weakened heart to allow time for treatment and recovery,” Reeves said. “It allows physicians to get a more complete result in the treatment of blocked arteries in difficult cases.”
The Impella platform will work in servicing patients who can immediately benefit from it’s uses.
The conditions that are treated at the Heart & Vascular Institute vary in their treatment process and recovery, and this new technology will serve to help those in the most severe cases with benefits in after-care as well, Reeves said.
“This technology will be used for patients who become acutely ill in the context of a life-threatening heart attack or other emergent heart failure episodes,” he said.
“It will be used in frail individuals to allow their physicians to angioplasty and stent coronary arteries with the goal of improving quality and length of life, while hopefully minimizing side effects and complications of the procedure.”
Reeves said the heart pump is used as a means to temporarily help in pumping blood forward, allowing for other treatment modalities to be utilized as well.
“We explain [to patients and their families] that a motorized pump will be inserted into the heart using a small incision into an artery,” he said. “There is a long tube that connects the Impella heart pump to an energy source and monitoring equipment outside the body. It will temporarily help the heart move blood forward while other treatments (medicines, stents, etc.) are used to help the heart get stronger and pump sufficient blood on its own.”
The decision to bring the world’s smallest heart pump to WK was made to fit with the ideals of the hospital. It will be used to aid in life-threatening situations and promote survival rates and quality of life.
“The mission of the health system is to improve the health and well-being of the community it serves,” Reeves said.
– Katie Ho
