Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Centre of Excellence in Cardiac Care, achieved yet another milestone of success when a team led by Dr Ashok Seth, Chairman, Cardiovascular Sciences, performed the India’s first “Protected Angioplasty and stenting procedure” with support of Impella Heart Pump on a patient suffering from life threatening blockages, who was at extreme high risk for bypass surgery.

The hospital is the first in India to offer this new life saving treatment to patients suffering from high risk blockages and failing heart – who are at a high risk for surgery and angioplasty and often left with no options. This marks the beginning of the first “Heart Recovery Program” in India, where the device can help the patient’s own diseased and weak heart to rest, recover and function on its own.

The new ‘Impella Device’ is the ‘world’s smallest heart pump’, which can support a failing heart for up to 7-days and occasionally longer. The Impella Device is like a catheter and works on the principle of submersible water pump; it is a thick as a pencil and approx. 6 inches long.

Unlike other devices (which are large and need a surgery to implant) the Imeplla can be inserted into the heart without an operation percutaneously through the groin artery in the Cath Lab; it can provide blood flows of 2.5 – 3.5 liters/min. Impella heart pump is used to help maintain stable heart function and to help ensure blood flow is maintained to critical organs such as the brain and kidneys in cases of cardiogenic shock or during high risk angioplasties or surgeries.

Once in position, the Impella heart pump withdraws blood from the left ventricle and expels it in to the ascending aorta, the same effect that happens with the pumping motion of your heart. Dr Ashok Seth said, “The Impella can support failing heart (cardiogenic shock) due to heart attack or myocarditis for up to 7-days or even longer till heart recovery occurs. It can also be used to support the heart in cases of high risk angioplasties (Protected PCI) in patients with poor heart function and where surgery is considered too risky.”

" It has been proven to support the heart to improve safety of the procedure and improve outcomes. When the procedure is over, or the heart recovery occurs, the device can just be pulled out and removed as it is like a catheter. It is approved in and has been used in USA and Europe for the last few years and has been introduced into India now,” Dr Seth said.