Pregnant woman survives rare heart tear with experimental pump, delivers healthy baby

At 17 weeks pregnant, Cassandra King felt intense shoulder and back pain on a trip to Jamaica and was later found to have a spontaneous coronary artery dissection, a life-threatening cardiac event. She was flown to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in North Carolina, where her heart was pumping only about 25% of normal output. A multidisciplinary team elected to keep the pregnancy and implanted an Impella 5.5 pump to augment circulation, aiming for fetal viability at 24 weeks.

On New Year's Eve, worsening symptoms led to surgery; the team briefly placed King on life support while preparing for a possible emergency C-section. The baby survived, was born weighing two pounds, four ounces, and later thrived after three months in the NICU. King underwent six stent placements, completed rehabilitation, and now cares for her one-year-old daughter, while physicians cite the case as a potential new pathway for similar high-risk pregnancies.