Atrial appendage occluder implantation in PFO in Heart and Diabetes Center NRW Bad Oeynhausen

About the department

The Department of General and Interventional Cardiology, Angiology at the Heart and Diabetes Center NRW Bad Oeynhausen provides the full range of services in these medical fields. The department's doctors successfully carry out examinations to assess the anatomical structures and function of the cardiovascular system, as well as conservative and sparing interventional treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Special attention is paid in the department's clinical practice to the treatment of coronary heart disease, valvular heart disease, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, inflammatory heart disease, stenosis, and vascular obstruction. The department's specialists have excellent facilities for the most sparing treatment, namely four cardiac catheterization laboratories with a minimum level of X-ray exposure, in which doctors perform procedures using cardiac catheters, as well as two ultra-modern hybrid operating rooms and a chest pain unit. More than 7,000 interventional catheter-based procedures are performed in the department every year. About 5,300 patients receive medical care here annually. The department is headed by Prof. Dr. med. Volker Rudolph.

The department has numerous certificates, which attest to the high professionalism of the doctors and their excellent treatment success rates. The medical facility is certified by the German Cardiac Society (DGK) in the fields of interventional treatment of heart disease, emergency cardiac care, treatment of heart valve disease, heart failure, and congenital heart defects in adults. The department also has the status of a Pulmonary Hypertension Center certified in accordance with the requirements of the German Hypertension League (DHL).

The department's specialists believe that the key to a successful treatment outcome is the most accurate diagnostics. The department offers both classical non-invasive diagnostic methods (echocardiography, electrocardiography, Holter monitoring, heart CT and MRI scans, etc.) and invasive catheter-based examinations (angiography and intravascular ultrasound). All necessary laboratory tests are also performed here. In addition, one of the largest Sleep Laboratories in Germany operates on the basis of the department, where sleep-related breathing disorders are diagnosed that can adversely affect the heart's functioning (central sleep apnea).

The department's team of cardiologists often admits people suffering from coronary heart disease. The pathology is characterized by a lack of oxygen supply to the myocardium caused by coronary artery lesions. In acute forms of the disease, there is a risk of developing myocardial infarction, which in turn often leads to death. Resting and stress ECGs, echocardiography, coronary angiography, and laboratory tests are used to detect coronary heart disease. Based on the diagnostic results, doctors choose the best treatment option. The therapeutic options available at the medical facility include effective catheter-based procedures, such as balloon dilatation followed by stent implantation (the department's cardiologists use only modern drug-eluting stents), rotablation, and intravascular lithotripsy. Interventional procedures are preceded by planning using intravascular ultrasound or optical coherence tomography, as well as coronary angiography. Doctors always make sure that a patient receives the most effective treatment, and therefore, when choosing the optimal method, they take into account the patient's individual needs and wishes.

The department is part of a specialized Heart Failure Center certified by the German Cardiac Society (DGK). Cardiologists cooperate closely with cardiothoracic surgeons, so the center provides both conservative and surgical treatment for heart failure. In the early stages of the disease, the specialists use only drug therapy, and in the advanced stages, ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation or a heart transplant may be required.

The scope of tasks for the department's team of doctors includes diagnostics and treatment of patients with heart valve disease, including aortic, mitral, and tricuspid conditions. In most cases, patients seek medical attention at the department for valvular stenosis and insufficiency, the treatment of which does not require traumatic surgery with a thoracotomy. The department's cardiologists treat heart valve disease in a specialized Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. Advanced catheter-based procedures, such as transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), MitraClip, and Pascal interventions, are performed here. Catheter-based procedures are performed on a beating heart with anesthesia. The interventions are performed in cooperation with cardiac surgeons. After 2-3 days, a patient may leave the hospital, and after 3 months, they need to undergo a follow-up examination to assess the treatment outcomes.

An important focus of clinical practice is angiology. The doctors in this specialty admit patients with pathologies of the arteries, veins, and lymphatic vessels. Doctors have excellent diagnostic options for assessing the state of the vascular system and detecting pathological changes. The department's diagnostic rooms serve for duplex ultrasound, continuous-wave Doppler ultrasound, capillary microscopy, vein occlusion plethysmography, structured light plethysmography, and other non-invasive examinations. Such invasive examinations as digital subtraction angiography, CO2 angiography, and intravascular ultrasound scans are also available here. As for the treatment of angiologic diseases, drug therapy, compression therapy, and various interventional catheter-based procedures, including percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, catheter-based atherectomy, and lithoplasty, are commonly performed. An attending physician develops a treatment regimen based on the specific diagnosis, the severity of the pathology, the age of the patient, their general health condition, and other factors.

The department specializes in the diagnostics and treatment of the following diseases:

• Coronary artery disease
• Heart failure
• Aortic, mitral, and tricuspid heart valve pathologies (stenosis and insufficiency)
• Congenital heart defects in adults
• Inflammatory heart disease (myocarditis, endocarditis, and pericarditis)
• Cardiovascular diseases in patients with diabetes mellitus
• Disorders of the central and peripheral circulation
• Peripheral artery diseases of the lower limbs
• Blood clotting disorders
• Arterial hypertension
• Other diseases of the heart and blood vessels

The department's diagnostic options include the following:

• Diagnostic services in cardiology
  • General examinations
    • Echocardiography
    • Resting and stress electrocardiography, and long-term ECG
    • Diagnostics using cardiac event recorders
    • Long-term blood pressure measurement
    • Orthostatic test
    • Pulmonary function tests (including ergospirometry)
  • Catheter-based examinations
    • Cardioangiography
    • Intravascular ultrasound  scans
  • Radionuclide examinations
    • Lung and myocardial scintigraphy
    • Positron emission tomography (in collaboration with the Institute of Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging)
  • Imaging examinations
    • Heart CT scans
    • Heart MRI scans
• Diagnostic services in angiology
  • Non-invasive examinations
    • Duplex sonography
    • Continuous-wave Doppler ultrasound scans
    • Stress ergometry
    • Capillary microscopy
    • Occlusion plethysmography
    • Structured light plethysmography
    • Intima-media complex and ankle-brachial index assessment
    • Transcutaneous measurement of partial pressure of oxygen in the blood
  • Invasive examinations
    • Digital subtraction angiography
    • CO2 angiography
    • Intravascular ultrasound scans
• Other diagnostic methods

The department's therapeutic options include the following:

• Therapeutic services in cardiology
  • Conservative treatment
    • Drug therapy
  • Interventional treatment
    • Balloon dilatation followed by stent placement (only drug-eluting stents are used), rotablation, and intravascular lithotripsy for coronary artery disease
    • Implantation of pacemakers, defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy for heart arrhythmias
    • Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), MitraClip, and Pascal interventions for valvular stenosis and insufficiency
    • Patent foramen ovale closure
• Therapeutic services in angiology
  • Conservative treatment
    • Drug therapy
    • Compression therapy
  • Interventional treatment
    • Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty
    • Catheter-based atherectomy
    • Lithoplasty
• Other treatment methods