September 14, 2020
Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center is the first hospital in Palm Beach County to perform a heart procedure with the Impella 5.5™ with Smart Assist®, a new technology to enable heart recovery in patients whose hearts are too weak to effectively pump blood on their own after a heart attack.
The Impella 5.5 with SmartAssist is a heart pump that is temporarily implanted minimally invasively in a patient’s heart. It reduces the heart’s workload and oxygen demand, which enables the heart to rest and recover, supply much needed blood and oxygen to the patient’s other vital organs, and allow patients the ability to walk just 24 hours following surgery.
“This advanced technology gives us a new and potentially better option to treat patients who are very sick due to a heart attack,” said Teresa Urquhart, chief executive officer for Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center. “It is a minimally-invasive treatment option that enables a patient’s heart to rest and ultimately recover, improving the patient’s long-term quality of life compared to other therapies. This new technology furthers our commitment to providing patients in Palm Beach County with comprehensive cardiovascular treatment options.”
Impella 5.5 with SmartAssist integrates data informatics including left ventricular pressure (LVP), end-diastolic pressure (EDP) and cardiac power output (CPO) that can help physicians make treatment decisions. The SmartAssist fiberoptic pressure sensor allows for precise pump positioning, management and repositioning in the ICU. The technology also includes Impella Connect, which enables medical providers to view the Impella control screen through a secure feed, and easily track and review cases.
“Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center is always a leading provider in cardiovascular care in Palm Beach County, and aims to provide the most advanced care to our patients,” said Dr. Nishant Patel, cardiothoracic surgeon for Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center. “Adding the Impella 5.5 with SmartAssist technology to our cardiovascular services means we can provide a new option to patients whose hearts are too weak to effectively pump blood on their own after a heart attack. This gives severely ill patients the best chance to recover and return home with a good long-term quality of life.”
Impella 5.5 with SmartAssist is the newest Impella heart pump from Abiomed of Danvers, Massachusetts and is FDA approved as a therapy for cardiogenic shock for up to 14 days. The Impella platform of technologies is the most studied mechanical circulatory support platform in the history of the FDA with real world clinical data on more than 100,000 patients and more than 550 peer-reviewed publications.
