46-Year-Old Father Enjoying Time With His Family Thanks to the Impella® Heart Pump

Karunakar Reddy’s wife, Madhavi, lovingly calls her husband “a workaholic,” saying he does whatever he needs to do to support their family. 

In October of 2023, Karunakar woke up having chest pain and difficulty breathing. At his wife’s insistence, he visited the emergency room at Medicover Hospital in Hyderabad, India. 

Dr. A. Sharath Reddy quickly performed an angiogram, which showed blockages in two main blood vessels to Karunakar Reddy’s heart. Before trying to clear the blockages, Dr. Reddy placed Impella CP® with SmartAssist® heart pump to support Karunakar’s heart during the procedure. 

After clearing the first blockage in the right coronary artery, the artery closed up again, and Karunakar’s blood pressure was maintained solely by the Impella. Dr. Reddy was able to continue with the procedure, clearing all the blockages to Karunakar’s heart. The device was removed several hours later.

Karunakar has made a full recovery, going for his morning walks, working in his garden and enjoying time with his family. In his wife’s words, “Impella has saved my husband’s life and my life also.”