In mid-summer, the surgical team at Baptist Cardiovascular Services pulled off a last-minute effort to save a patient's life using the "world's smallest heart pump."

 

The Impella 2.5 heart pump, which has earned the "miniature" moniker for being smaller than a No. 2 pencil eraser, supported 64-year-old Charles Morea's diseased heart while life-saving repairs were made to blocked vessels.

 

The Utica resident had undergone bypass surgery in 2000 after suffering a heart attack. When he suffered a subsequent heart attack two days after the Fourth of July holiday, he was rushed to Baptist Medical Center, under the care of staff cardiologist Alfredo H. Figueroa, MD.

 

After evaluating his condition, Figueroa sent Morea, whose vessels were extensively blocked, to the cath lab. Morea's heart muscle was too weak to survive a standard procedure; Figueroa needed an alternative solution.

 

"We had reached the end … and surgery wasn't an option," explained Figueroa. "I was looking for options. I needed something to support the patient's heart muscle while I worked on getting his arteries open."

 

Figueroa knew that in June 2008, the FDA had approved Abiomed's Impella 2.5 catheter-based heart pump to provide circulatory support for up to six hours, reducing the load on the heart.

 

On July 10, Figueroa contacted Judy Henderson, director of cardiovascular diagnostics for Baptist, and persuaded her to collaborate with clinicians from Baptist and Abiomed to secure the heart pump.

 

"I started the paperwork," said Henderson, "and we received the device on July 14. Time was of the essence. We started in-service training for our clinical team immediately. We all came together to save this patient's life."

 

Since the July 15 procedure that allowed Morea to receive a life-sustaining implantable defibrillator and pacemaker, he hasn't complained of chest pain and is doing well.

 

"When I was having the procedure done, my chest pain went away, and I could breathe easier," Morea recalled. "Everybody needs to know about this."

 

High-risk patients with severe blockages and poor pump function need adequate systemic and coronary flow while cardiologists work on alleviating this obstruction quickly, and the Impella 2.5 helps provide that flow, said Figueroa.

 

"It provides the interventionalist the hemodynamic support and peace of mind needed to complete this kind of high risk procedure," he said. "It gave me the support I needed to get his arteries open so his heart wouldn't quit on me. The device supports the heart's pumping system and drives blood through the body. It can give doctors time to perform procedures, such as opening blocked arteries, which might otherwise kill the critically ill patient."

 

Figueroa and interventional cardiologist Nisheeth K. Goel, MD, also with Baptist Cardiology Clinic, are the only physicians in Central Mississippi using the Impella 2.5.

 

"Dr. Figueroa didn't have to go out of his way to do this," said Morea. "I'm thankful for a doctor who cares enough to research it – or I wouldn't have been here." 

 

Nationwide, more than 500 hospitals have acquired the Impella 2.5 since June 2008, despite economic conditions that have slowed down some areas of healthcare institutions' capital spending. Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto, which is not affiliated with Baptist Health System in Jackson, acquired the heart pump in September.