Physicians and Heart Pump Help To Recover Father’s Heart

Francis “Buddy” Chase, 42, came down with flu-like symptoms. Buddy worked in the school system, so he decided to stay home and rest. But after four days, his symptoms only continued to become more severe and he began experiencing shortness of breath. Buddy visited a walk-in clinic where medical staff discovered Buddy’s heart was severely weak. He was sent to Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts.

Dr. Adam Saltzman and his staff diagnosed Buddy with cardiomyopathy, a disease that causes heart muscle to weaken. His ejection fraction, which measures the contraction strength of the main heart pumping chamber was dangerously low at 10% (normal is between 55-70%). Dr. Saltzman placed the Impella CP® heart pump to support Buddy’s weak heart.
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Buddy was then transferred to Tufts for escalated care while on the support of the Impella heart pump. After his heart had some time to rest, he began to recover and the Impella CP was removed. He returned home to his wife and two children.