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A 65-year-old man, s/p coronary bypass surgery (CABG) with left internal mammary artery (LIMA) to the left anterior descending (LAD) artery 12 years previously, presented to his local hospital with left upper extremity pain, dizziness, falls, and chest pain. At the outside hospital, a proximal total left subclavian occlusion was found and the patient underwent left subclavian artery to common carotid artery (SCA-CCA) bypass surgery. Shortly thereafter, the patient developed right subclavian thrombosis, and underwent right SCA-CCA bypass surgery. Twenty days later, coronary steal symptoms recurred; troponin levels were elevated and ultrasound exam revealed bilateral SCA-CCA graft occlusion. The patient was then transferred to a tertiary care facility with a diagnosis of non-ST elevation myocardial infarct (NSTEMI). A successful endovascular procedure was performed in the cardiac catheterization laboratory with the use of coronary chronic total occlusion (CTO) devices, to treat the coronary steal syndrome.

Heart transplant recipients who experience humoral rejection are at risk for hemodynamic instability. We report a case of a 64-year-old male with cardiogenic shock due to allograft rejection requiring mechanical support while undergoing intense immunosuppression. He underwent implantation of a micro-axial endovascular pump (Impella). To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of successful Impella device deployment as a bridge-to-recovery strategy.