Florida Medical Center is now utilizing the Impella heart pump devices for elective and urgent high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) patients. The Impella makes a protected PCI procedure possible. It pulls blood from the left ventricle of the heart through an inlet area near the tip and expels blood from the catheter into the ascending aorta. The Impella allows for percutaneous insertion and increased blood flow, particularly important for high-risk heart failure patients. The device is designed to help move blood from the heart to the aorta, mimicking the natural function of the heart and keeping blood circulating.

“The addition of these Impella devices to our cardiovascular program at Florida Medical Center is a great benefit for patients who have severe heart disease” said Dr. Mohamed Osman, medical director of the Cardiac Cath Lab at Florida Medical Center. “For them, the traditional angioplasty treatment that cardiologists would perform to open a blocked artery may be too risky, and they may not be a good candidate for open-heart surgery.”