UPMC to begin new heart study

UPMC has began a study of a new heart pump that is the smallest ever created. The pump works much like a traditional pump but is smaller and easier to insert. The heart pump is intended for use in patients who suffer from heart ailments such as coronary vessel blocks. The pump has been tested in a small group and proved effective but UPMC will be testing it in a group of 150 patients over a two year period and hopes to prove the pump is more effective than traditional methods which have been used since the 1950's. The size of the pump enables the doctors to insert it More easily than the traditional balloon angioplasty and stent. Patients will be selected for the study by the severity of their heart problems and heart strength.