A patient at Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust has become the first in the UK to receive an artificial heart pump inserted without the need for surgery.
Doctors at Hammersmith Hospital successfully placed the world's smallest heart support system, a 4mm-wide device, into the patient's heart, by inserting it into an artery in the groin and passing it up into the heart. The pump, implanted on Thursday (November 28) and removed a day later, assisted the patient's heart in the crucial few hours after coronary artery bypass surgery. The device offers hope for patients previously considered too ill to be operated on, by providing temporary support for the heart muscle during the critical period after a heart attack or surgery.
“This new impeller pump technology which can be put into the heart without invasive surgery will revolutionise the way we deal with heart disease,” comments Mr Peter Smith, consultant cardiac surgeon at Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust and lead surgeon. “The ease of using these pumps, particularly in patients with very diseased or damaged hearts, means that we can now successfully treat patients that we otherwise would have been unable to.“