Catheter-based pump device being evaluated

Heart attack patients and others with coronary conditions may benefit from a catheter-based pump device being evaluated in a clinical trial now under way at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers.

The device is the Impella 2.5, developed by the Massachusetts-based Abiomed Inc. St. Francis is one of only a few medical facilities participating in the PROTECT II trial, the second Food and Drug Administration-approved trial for prophylactic preventive use of the device during non-emergent high-risk coronary intervention procedures.

“We are pleased to participate in the pivotal PROTECT II trial and we look forward to improving the treatment of high-risk patients,” said principal investigator William J. Berg, M.D., of the Indiana Heart Physicians and St. Francis Heart Center. “The Impella offers physicians a minimally invasive breakthrough technology in cardiac treatment and we’re excited to further demonstrate its effectiveness in this secondary trial.”

The current trial follows Abiomed’s previous PROTECT I trial, which yielded successful results for the ease-of-use and safety of the device, according to company officials.

The Impella 2.5, the world’s smallest ventricular assist device (VAD), provides patients with up to 2.5 liters of blood flow per minute. It’s been used to treat more than 1,000 patients in Europe who have had heart attacks and cardiogenic shock, a condition in which a weakened heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs.

The trial was approved earlier this year by the institutional review board, which oversees all clinical investigations conducted at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers.

To be eligible for the study, patients must have a left main lesion, only one remaining vessel open, or have triple vessel disease. They also must have a low ejection fraction (below 30 percent or 35 percent, depending on their other qualifying traits).

For more information about the trial, contact Kathy Lawson at (317) 851-2582.

More details about the Abiomed’s Impella 2.5 device can be found at www.abiomed.com/products/impella.cfm.

The St. Francis Heart Center is a state-of-the-art facility and the only full-service cardiac and vascular care program on Indianapolis’ south side. For more information about its services, visit online at www.stfrancishospitals.org/Heart.

The Indiana Members Credit Union’s newest branch – located at the northwest corner of Stop 11 Road and Arlington Avenue in Franklin Township – is now open for business. The branch opened to the public on Tuesday, May 27.

The credit union’s Grand Opening for the Stop Eleven Branch is scheduled for Saturday, June 14, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Grand Opening festivities will include:

• Refreshments, games and prizes
• Visit from IndyCar driver Sarah Fisher
• WFMS-Radio remote
• Hourly prize drawings

The Grand Prize will be a $500 MasterCard Gift Card, with the winner required to be 18 years or older to win. No purchase is necessary to enter for the Grand Prize drawing, and the winner need not be present at the time of the drawing.

The 3,200-square-foot branch features four drive-up lanes, two ATMs, safe deposit boxes, a business depository and Saturday hours.

Darlene Hayden, an IMCU management veteran, is manager of the new branch. She has worked in management at Indiana Members for the past nine years, and previously worked in consumer lending for 12 years.

Indiana Members has over 25 branch facilities, including the Stop Eleven Branch now open at 5940 East Stop 11 Road.

Indiana Members Credit Union was founded on the IUPUI campus more than 52 years ago, and has grown to be the largest credit union in Central Indiana . IMCU recently reached the 100,000-member milestone.