September 10, 2010 – The first patient was successfully supported for six days by the Impella Right Peripheral (RP) ventricular assist device (VAD) at the Providence Heart and Lung Institute at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia. This is the first use of the Impella RP.
The procedure was performed by Anson Cheung, M.D., of the Providence Heart and Lung Institute. The Impella RP is available to this institution under “special access” regulations in Canada.
“We are thrilled to be the first institution in the world to use the Impella RP for support in a patient,” said Anson Cheung, M.D., surgical director of heart transplantation for the Providence Heart and Lung Institute at St. Paul’s Hospital. “A common challenge for post-transplant patients with acute right heart failure is that they often have limited treatment options. The Impella RP represents a huge step forward in offering right side support using a minimally invasive platform. Our organization excels in offering revolutionary cardiac care for patients and the Impella RP allows us to improve the overall quality of life for patients suffering from heart failure."
The Impella RP is a percutaneous, catheter-based, axial flow pump. It is inserted via a single access vessel and does not require the patient’s chest to be opened. It is passed through the right ventricle and delivers greater than 4 liters of blood flow per minute from the lower right atrium to the pulmonary artery.
Patients with right ventricular dysfunction or right heart failure, lack blood flow from the right side of their hearts. The Impella RP is intended to provide the flow and pressure needed to compensate for right heart failure. Right heart failure can occur either as an isolated event or can be associated with left heart failure when the patient is suffering from biventricular failure.
Similar to the Impella 2.5 and 5.0, the Impella RP can be inserted in the catheterization lab or in the surgery suite. Cardiologists and surgeons will be able to treat right heart dysfunction without opening the patient’s chest or requiring another surgery. Some patient populations that could potentially benefit from percutaneous right-sided support are: post operative right ventricular dysfunction following transplant, Left VAD placement for heart surgery, cardiogenic shock, isolated right side failure from chronic heart disease, and elevated pulmonary artery blood pressure following pulmonary embolism.
The Impella RP is currently not available in the United States.
For more information: www.abiomed.com
June 19, 2024 
