Why the study?
Post-myocardial infarction ventricular septal defects are rare and life-threatening, with few reported anecdotes of using Impella as a bridge to repair.
Combined Impella 5.5 and VA-ECMO (ECPELLA) may serve as a viable bridge to heart transplantation for patients with post-MI VSD and cardiogenic shock.
Demonstrates the feasibility of ECPELLA as a bridge to transplant in post-MI VSD.
Post-myocardial infarction (MI) ventricular septal defects (VSDs) are rare but life-threatening. Temporary mechanical support options range from intra-aortic balloon pumps (IABPs) to venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO). There are few anecdotes of the Impella as a bridge to repair. We present a case of post-MI VSD and cardiogenic shock requiring combined Impella 5.5 and VA-ECMO (ECPELLA) as a bridge to transplant.
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Frenkel et al. (2025) studied this question.
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