Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Impella device reduces heart attack damage and failure in dogs
By Saku, Keita et al.·Published in Circulation. Heart failure·2018·Department of Advanced Risk Stratification for Cardiovascular Diseases·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Left Ventricular Mechanical Unloading by Total Support of Impella in Myocardial Infarction Reduces Infarct Size, Preserves Left Ventricular Function, and Prevents Subsequent Heart Failure in Dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs experienced a heart attack (acute myocardial infarction) after a blood vessel was blocked for three hours. To help their hearts recover, some dogs were treated with a device called Impella, which supported their heart function. Those receiving full support from the device had significantly smaller areas of heart damage and better heart function compared to those who did not receive any support. This treatment not only reduced the size of the heart injury but also helped prevent future heart failure in these dogs.
People also search for: dog heart attack treatment · Impella for dogs · heart failure prevention in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Acute myocardial infarction remains a leading cause of chronic heart failure. Excessive myocardial oxygen demand relative to supply is the fundamental mechanism of myocardial infarction. We thus hypothesized that left ventricular (LV) mechanical unloading by the total support of transvascular LV assist device Impella could minimize oxygen demand, thereby reducing infarct size and preventing subsequent heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS: In 20 dogs, we ligated the left anterior descending coronary artery for 180 minutes and then reperfused. We introduced Impella from 60 minutes after the onset of ischemia to 60 minutes after reperfusion. In the partial support group, Impella supported 50% of total cardiac output. In the total support group, systemic flow totally depends on Impella flow. Four weeks after ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), we compared LV function and infarct size among 4 groups: sham (no I/R), I/R (no Impella support), partial support, and total support. Compared with I/R, total support lowered LV end-diastolic pressure (15.0±3.5 versus 4.7±1.7 mm Hg;<0.001), increased LV end-systolic elastance (4.3±0.8 versus 13.9±5.1 mm Hg/mL;<0.001), and decreased NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide) level (4081±1123 versus 1773±390 pg/mL;<0.05). Furthermore, total support markedly reduced infarct size relative to I/R, whereas partial support decreased infarct size to a lesser extent (I/R, 16.3±2.6; partial support, 8.5±4.3; and total support, 2.1±1.6%;<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: LV mechanical unloading by the total support of Impella during the acute phase of myocardial infarction reduced infarct size and prevented subsequent heart failure in dogs.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29739745/