Tiny heart pump saves lives

Not many patients are excited about getting an implantable defibrillator and pacemaker, but Charles Morea is.

A couple of weeks ago he came to Baptist Medical Center, essentially on death’s door and a defibrillator was not the priority option.

“He said if he went back in, I would have died immediately,“ Morea said.

Morea is referring to interventional cardiologist Dr. Al Figueroa.

“He had three by-pass graphs. Each one of them 80 to 90 percent occluded. They’re 10-year-old graphs. His heart functionally working at 20 percent. I think we really needed all the support we needed,“ Figueroa said.

As Morea clung to life, Figueroa found the Impella 2.5 heart pump. The cath team contacted the company and within eight days, the newly FDA approved device arrived.

It’s about the size of a No. 2 pencil eraser.

“The pump itself is this little piece within the gray colored area of the catheter,“ Figueroa said.

The Impella is the smallest heart pump in the world but it’s just in its infancy. Its potential is phenomenal.

“The next two renditions will be a pediatric version for our pediatric population and also another device for the right side of the heart so this is just the beginning,“ said Tim Fell, with Impella’s manufacturer, Abiomed.

“With this device we’ve expanded the borders of what we can do,“ Figueroa said.

For instance, clearing Morea’s blocked arteries so that he can receive a life sustaining implantable defibrillator and pacemaker.

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