LVHN hospital implants region’s first heart pump

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Lehigh Valley Health Network last month introduced a new technology for treating patients suffering from advanced heart failure.

LVHN doctors have devised a small mechanical pump that circulates blood for hearts that can’t perform the function on their own.

The surgically implanted, battery operated pump is sutured to the heart and takes over the pumping action for a heart muscle that’s too weak to squeeze blood out to the brain and other major organs. The device isn’t an artificial heart, nor does it replace the patient’s native heart.

Last month, a Bethlehem grandmother was the first patient to be implanted with a left ventricular assist device at Lehigh Valley Hospital.

For 74-year-old Dolores Schumann, the device is “destination therapy,” meaning she will have the pump for the rest of her life. She isn’t a candidate for a heart transplant because of her age and other medical conditions.

After the implantation of the device, patients typically return home from the hospital after two weeks once they have learned how to use the device.

The device is designed for patients suffering from heart failure and can improve quality of life and increase longevity, according to LVHN. The pump was approved by the FDA in 2010.

The four-hour long surgery to implant the pump was performed by Dr. Timothy Misselbeck, Dr. Sanjay Mehta and Dr. Gary Szydlowski of Lehigh Heart and Lung Surgeons. The surgery consisted of connecting a tube to the bottom of the patient’s pumping chamber – the left ventricle – and the other end to the aorta. The battery-driven pump measuring 1.7 by 8.1 inches and weighing 9.9 ounces was placed between the left ventricle and the aorta.

This device should allow Schumann to carry out daily activities with minimal restrictions.

“I still have a lot of living to do,” Schumann said. She was diagnosed in 2003 with heart failure caused by inherited cardiomyopathy, or an abnormal heart muscle. Her cardiologist, Dr. Deborah Sundlof, said the patient exhausted all other treatment options. “Without this option, she would not have been able to survive much longer. She is an excellent candidate … as she has a devoted family, and aside from her heart, is in relatively good physical condition,” said Sundlof.