On April 9, the surgeon team led by Professor Yuan Zuyi from Department of Cardiovascular Medicine successfully completed the first case of coronary intervention with left ventricular assist device (Impella) in our hospital performed in a patient diagnosed with severe coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction and heart failure, which successfully saved the patient's life.
The male patient was admitted to Coronary Care Unit (CCU) from Department of Cardiovascular Medicine due to myocardial infarction complicated with heart failure. Coronary angiography showed that the patient suffered from the left main trunk coronary trifurcation lesions, which was the most severe type of coronary heart disease. Severe myocardial infarction resulted in large area necrosis of myocardium, complicated with heart failure and left ventricular apex aneurysm. The surgeon team led by Professor Yuan Zuyi repeatedly discussed the treatment plan and reached the consensus that the occluded blood vessels must be handled as soon as possible to save ischemic myocardium to the greatest extent. However, this patient could not tolerate long-term conventional interventional therapy and bypass surgery due to coronary artery trunk and trifurcation lesions complicated with severe calcification and poor cardiac function. Finally, the surgical regime of coronary intervention with the percutaneous left ventricular assist device (Impella) was determined to spare no effort to make the patient survive.
After full preoperative preparation, the surgeons led by Professor Yuan Zuyi successfully implanted the left ventricular assist device (Impella) into the patient with the cooperation of Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Peripheral Vessels, Department of Interventional Surgery,etc. The cardiac function was significantly improved after the surgery. After the circulation stabilized, the interventional experts from Department of Cardiovascular Medicine successfully treated the coronary artery occlusion, and then the ischemic myocardium was improved to the greatest extent. After careful treatment and nursing care in CCU, the patient was successfully recovered and discharged.
The successful treatment of this critically-ill patient marks the first case of coronary intervention with the left ventricular assist device (Impella) in our hospital, which is a novel mode of coronary intervention for severe coronary lesions complicated with heart failure and signifies a step forward in the treatment of acute and critical cardiovascular diseases with the left ventricular assist device (Impella) in our hospital.
The left ventricular assist device (Impella) is an internationally-advanced technique for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, which is the world's smallest cardiac blood pump that is implanted in an interventional manner. It can provide persistent blood-pumping power for the heart for a long time and offer circulatory support for patients with acute and critical cardiovascular diseases. At present, coronary intervention with the left ventricular assist device (Impella) can be performed in merely a few large cardiovascular centers in China.
