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Children's Hospital of Philadelphia doctor excited after world's smallest heart pump FDA-approved for kids

Philadelphia doctor excited after world's smallest heart pump now FDA-approved for kids
Philadelphia doctor excited after world's smallest heart pump now FDA-approved for kids 02:15

A new high-tech help for young heart patients has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Doctors say this will allow them to save more lives, an important milestone as we kick off American Heart Month.

It's a little device with a big job.

"It does all the work for your heart," Katrina Penney, 21, said. "It did save my life, 100%."

It is the Impella 5.5 – the world's smallest heart pump that helps blood circulate.

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CBS Philadelphia


Penney was born with congenital heart defects and had her first heart transplant when she was a baby.

"My entire childhood was completely normal," Penney said. "I played sports. I went to school. I had friends."

But two years ago, the transplanted heart stopped working effectively.

"I was in complete heart failure," she said.

Penney needed a second heart transplant. While on the waiting list, the Impella kept her alive at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

"So, I had my Impella for five weeks," she said. "I actually named my Impella, Ella.

"It's very useful in the sense that actually it can be implantable without opening the chest," Dr. Katsuhide Maeda with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia said.

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CBS Philadelphia

Maeda said the FDA has now approved the Impella that he put in Penney for use in younger children.

"We are so excited," Maeda said. "This is a really like a, you know, game-changer." 

It'll save more lives, Maeda added.

With the Impella, Penney survived until her second heart transplant in June of 2023.

"I know it's crazy that this little tiny device — and this being probably the size of my fingernail — can completely save someone's life, which is just incredible," Penney said.

The graduate student knows how lucky she is to have two heart transplants, including one with the help of a groundbreaking little device.

Penney said CHOP has become a home away from home. Now that she's recovered, she's looking forward to eventually becoming a special education teacher.

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