The Med Center performs its 500th minimally invasive procedure

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Medical Center at Bowling Green performed its 500th procedure using a minimally invasive heart pump.

This procedure involves a temporary heart pump for patients whose hearts are too weak. The pump is called the Impella.

Dr. Sardar Ijaz is the cardiologist who performed the procedure, and he says he understands and has seen the positive impact of this minimally invasive procedure.

Ijaz, a cardiologist with The Medical Center tells, us, “For patients, you know, who have low year of like the heart muscle is weak. So in order to support the heart during the procedure, this device is placed, so the procedure can be done in a safely fashion.”

According to Ijaz, Impella has transformed the way Med Center provides care and helped the 500th patient get a surgery she needed for her cancer diagnosis.

He also says, “We deal with a very sick, patient population here, especially, you know, people who have not sought medical care. So, you know, like this five, 500 patient that we did, she never saw a doctor in the last 30 years. She had breast cancer. Her heart was weak, and she had a heart attack. So it was just like, you know, one mystery unraveling after another. “

Ijaz shares that the process doesn’t just help patients with heart health issues, it can also help them move forward in life, and he encourages everyone to see there doctors more often, if they haven’t in a while.

He says, “Helping people who come in with an acute heart attack because that is what, you know, kind of makes that difference because, eventually, when the patient is coming in that sick and you’re the only one sort of standing between them and a bad outcome. So getting the patients, you know, through the next stage, where they can, you know, meet their loved ones again and, you know, have a quality of life after going through a significant cardiac event, you know, that’s fulfilling.”