Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology - Pediatric Diagnostic Hospital M1 Munich

About the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Pediatric Diagnostic Hospital M1 Munich

The Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the Pediatric Diagnostic Hospital M1 Munich offers the full range of medical services to young patients with benign and malignant diseases of the hematopoietic system. The department's doctors focus on children suffering from anemia, blood clotting disorders, leukopenia, leukocytosis, lymphopenia, and hemophilia, as well as malignant blood diseases, including leukemias, hematosarcomas, lymphomas, and myelomas. The department has excellent diagnostic facilities for examining children, including laboratory tests, bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, digital ultrasound scans, magnetic resonance imaging, and other procedures. After making an accurate diagnosis, the department's specialists prescribe an individually tailored treatment regimen for each child, which is aimed at eliminating the causes that provoked the disease and restoring the functioning of the hematopoietic system. The children's health is in the safe hands of highly professional doctors who successfully cope with clinical cases of any complexity. The department is headed by Prof. Dr. med. Stefan Eber.

Doctors at the medical facility regularly treat children with various types of anemia: iron deficiency, vitamin deficiency, folate deficiency, protein deficiency, hereditary, posthemorrhagic, hemolytic, and others. Anemia is a severe pathology in which hemoglobin levels in a child decrease and the structure of red blood cells changes. Symptoms of anemia include pallor and peeling skin, loss of appetite, developmental delay, emotional instability, lethargy, fatigue, weakened immunity, and other complaints. It is enough to perform a set of laboratory tests to detect anemia. In certain cases, a bone marrow biopsy may be required. In many cases, anemia is not an independent disease but develops due to another pathology. In such clinical cases, therapeutic measures are aimed at eliminating the primary disease. In many cases, dietary adjustments are sufficient to treat anemia. The department's doctors recommend normalization of sleep patterns, walks in the fresh air, therapeutic exercises, and massage for young patients with anemia. An integral part of the therapeutic process is drug therapy with iron preparations and vitamin complexes. In severe cases, the child may need a transfusion of red cell concentrates.

In their clinical practice, the department's specialists often deal with such blood clotting disorders as hemophilia and thrombophilia. Hemophilia is an inherited disease in which a child develops a deficiency in blood clotting factor VIII (hemophilia A) or blood clotting factor IX (hemophilia B). The more severe the blood clotting factor deficiency, the more severe the disease. The department carries out blood tests and an assessment of the level of activity of blood coagulation factors to confirm the diagnosis. Special genetic tests can also detect hemophilia during the intrauterine development stage. Hemophilia is an incurable disease, but the specialists at the medical facility successfully use replacement therapy with clotting factor concentrates to control the pathology and ensure a high quality of life. Thrombophilia is characterized by a predisposition to the formation of blood clots. Thrombophilia is one of the main causes of life-threatening conditions such as deep vein thrombosis, myocardial infarction, and stroke. During the diagnostics, the attending physician examines and palpates the child, collects the patient's medical history, and finds out if the patient has a genetic predisposition to thrombophilia. The patient is then prescribed a series of laboratory and hardware examinations, including Doppler ultrasonography, angiography, phlebography, and CT or MRI scans. The essence of thrombophilia therapy is to take anticoagulants to prevent the formation of blood clots.

A special place in the department's work is occupied by the treatment of blood cancer in children. The specialists most often diagnose leukemias, hematosarcomas, lymphomas, and myelomas. At the diagnostic stage, the child undergoes a clinical examination, a complete blood count, a biopsy, a lumbar puncture, and X-ray scans. The treatment tactics are determined depending on the type of blood cancer and the general health condition of the patient. A treatment regimen is usually based on chemotherapy, which may be supplemented by immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and radiation therapy. In complex cases, the department's doctors, in cooperation with partner medical facilities, perform a bone marrow transplant.

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

• Anemia
  • Iron deficiency anemia
  • Vitamin deficiency anemia
  • Folate deficiency anemia
  • Protein deficiency anemia
  • Hereditary anemia
  • Posthemorrhagic anemia
  • Hemolytic anemia
• Blood clotting disorders
  • Hemophilia
  • Thrombophilia
  • Hereditary coagulopathies
• Hematopoietic system disorders
  • Leukopenia
  • Leukocytosis
  • Lymphopenia
• Systemic diseases
  • Bleeding diathesis
  • Hemorrhagic vasculitis
• Malignant blood diseases
  • Hematosarcoma
  • Leukemia
  • Lymphoma
  • Myeloma
• Other diseases of the hematopoietic  system

The department's diagnostic and therapeutic options include:

• Diagnostics
  • Laboratory tests
  • Bone marrow biopsy and aspiration
  • Digital ultrasound scans
  • Magnetic resonance imaging
• Treatment
  • Treatment with iron and folic acid preparations, as well as vitamin complexes
  • Blood transfusions
  • Treatment with anticoagulants
  • Replacement therapy with clotting factor concentrates
  • Chemotherapy
  • Targeted therapy
  • Immunotherapy
  • Radiation therapy
• Other medical services