Mini heart pump saves the life of elementary school principal in Stanislaus County
Sandra Villasenor received lifesaving help from health care providers and good Samaritans when she survived a medical emergency a year ago.
Villasenor said she also has a sense of gratitude for a piece of medical technology — the world’s smallest heart pump — for allowing her career to resume. She is principal of Grayson Elementary School in western Stanislaus County.
“I don’t where I would be without it,” Sandra said. “Today, it does not seem like it really happened.”
Sandra, 53, has done a testimonial for Abiomed, the maker of the miniature Impella heart pumps, but her story also raises awareness about a lesser-known cause of heart attacks in women.
In August 2021, Sandra was going to a morning meeting at the Patterson Unified School District office and ordered a drink in the drive-through of the Ward Avenue Starbucks in Patterson.
As she drove up to the window to pay, she suddenly blacked out. Her foot slipped off the brake and her car ran into a concrete pillar.
Seeing the driver was unconscious, a barista came out of the Starbucks and pulled Sandra from the car. Other people saw she was in serious trouble. The woman in line behind Sandra’s car began cardiopulmonary resuscitation and a school district colleague inside the coffee house called 911.
When an ambulance crew arrived, Sandra was in cardiac arrest but there still was time for measures to save her life.
As CPR was continued, paramedics used the pads of an external cardiac defibrillator to shock Sandra’s chest. They were not able to stabilize the patient and Sandra was taken to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto.
Dr. Colm Murphy, an interventional cardiologist, said Sandra was not breathing on her own when she arrived in the emergency room.
An electrocardiogram showed she was suffering from an acute heart attack. Sandra was moved to the hospital’s catheterization lab, where dye injected into a blood vessel in her leg revealed a blocked artery in her heart.
Murphy said a balloon was used to get blood flowing in the artery as much as possible. But this wasn’t a typical blockage seen in most heart attacks. There was a tear in the blood vessel and it couldn’t be treated in the conventional manner.
Sandra was placed in an intensive care unit. At one point, she said, the hospital staff told her husband, Arturo, to tell their family she may not pull through.
“In the ICU, they gave her more and more medication and she kept deteriorating,” Murphy said.
Hospital staff decided the Impella miniature heart pump would give Sandra the best chance of surviving. The Impella CP was inserted in an artery in her leg and threaded to her heart. The pumping device was turned on and took over the work of pumping blood through the body.
According to Abiomed, the heart pump mimics the natural pathway of blood flow, increases blood pressure and provides blood supply to vital organs including the brain and kidneys.
After the heart pump took over, nurses were encouraged that Sandra’s vital signs became stable. As her condition improved, they also were cheered when Sandra said she could recognize her husband.
“After I was doing so poorly, they thought, wow, you have a good chance,” Sandra recalled.
Sandra’s heart was supported by the miniature pump for two days, allowing it to regain normal function. The Impella device was removed and, three days later, Sandra returned home to her family.
Murphy said the chances of surviving cardiac arrest outside a hospital are slim – about one in 10 patients lives.
“They don’t make it very often,” Murphy said. “I think someone was looking out for Sandra that day, as all those things lined up to give her the best chance.”
The doctor said credit was due to the people at the Starbucks who jumped into action, the person who called 911 and the timely ambulance response.
One cause of heart attacks in women
Sandra learned she went into cardiogenic shock because of a spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) or tear in an artery supplying blood to the heart. A SCAD occurs more often in women in their 40s or 50s, often during stressful activity. It also can happen to younger women in pregnancy.
It is not necessarily rare but may be responsible for 1% to 4% of heart attacks and a third of heart attacks in women younger than 50, according to the Penn Medicine blog.
The American Heart Association released a statement in 2018 declaring that SCAD is more common than previously supposed and needs to be treated differently than common heart attacks caused by atherosclerosis.
Murphy said treating a torn artery with an emergency stent can make it worse. The blood vessel usually heals on its own.
Sandra returned to work and her active life two months after her hospitalization. Last month, she began a new school year with students and staff at Grayson Elementary in Westley.
“It had the good feeling of a fresh start,” Sandra said. “My staff is very supportive. It’s nice to be back to feeling normal health-wise and to start a school year with the kids.”
The principal said she has adopted a healthy diet and exercise routine and has learned “not to sweat the details.” She returned to the Starbucks in Patterson to talk with the employees and has personally thanked the barista who came to her rescue, she said.
Murphy said he was able to catch up with Sandra a few weeks ago, although that does not always happen with former patients.
“When the patients roll into the cath lab, we have no idea who they are,” Murphy said. “It turns out Sandra is a stellar member of the community and the principal at her school. You realize how much of a difference you can make for someone.”
Murphy said he has used the miniature heart pump six or seven times since joining the Doctors Medical Center staff in February. It’s the hospital’s preferred device for patients in cardiogenic shock, he said.
A hospital spokesperson said the Impella pump has played a role in 17 cardiac cases this year at Doctors, averaging one to four cases per month.
This story was originally published September 13, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
