Cardiac Surgeons Install Tiny Temporary Pump Inside Heart

A new device is being used by cardiologists to allow the heart to rest after surgery. A small, eight-gram device called the Impella 5.0 allows the heart to rest, by pumping up to 75% of the blood a healthy heart pumps. The Impella 5.0 has the capacity to pump up to 5 liters of blood per minute, as compared to the usual 7 liter capacity of the heart. With the device, the heart barely has to work, a phenomenon the heart usually never experiences. After CABG or other open heart surgery, the heart is usually traumatized, and needs time to heal. Bartley Griffith, M.D., a heart surgeon, was quoted as saying "It's a little bit like we create a bruise and the bruise has to heal in the heart". To repair the "bruise", the heart needs to rest temporarily, which is exactly what this device allows the heart to do.

To implant the device, a catheter is inserted through the femoral artery up to the left ventricle. The device stays in the ventricle for up to a week, and then is removed the same way. Most patients do not need the device for the entire week though, and have it removed after two to three days.

Source:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2008/0604-heart_surgery_faster_recovery.htm

I find this article especially interesting because I am interested in pursuing a career in interventional cardiology. My family has an intense history of heart disease, and one of my grandparents on both sides has undergone a CABG procedure. Any breakthroughs relating to angioplasty, CABG or CAD treatment strike a note close to home for me.