The program includes:
- Initial presentation in the hospital
- Clinical history taking
- Review of available medical records
- Physical examination
- Laboratory tests:
- Complete blood count
- General urine analysis
- Biochemical analysis of blood
- Tumor markers
- Inflammation indicators (CRP, ESR)
- Coagulogram
- Ultrasound scan
- CT scan / MRI
- Preoperative care
- Embolization or chemoembolization, 2 procedures
- Symptomatic treatment
- Cost of essential medicines
- Nursing services
- Elaboration of further recommendations
How program is carried out
During the first visit, the doctor will conduct a clinical examination and go through the results of the available diagnostic tests. After that, you will undergo the necessary additional examination, such as the assessment of liver and kidney function, ultrasound scan, CT scan and MRI. This will allow the doctor to determine which vessels are feeding the tumor and its metastases, as well as determine how well you will tolerate the procedure.
Chemoembolization begins with local anesthesia and catheterization of the femoral artery. The thin catheter is inserted through a few centimeters long incision of the blood vessel. The doctor gradually moves the catheter to the vessel feeding the primary tumor or its metastases. The procedure is carried out under visual control, an angiographic device is used for this. The vascular bed and the position of the catheter in it are displayed on the screen of the angiograph.
When the catheter reaches a suspected artery, a contrast agent is injected through it. Due to the introduction of the contrast agent, the doctor clearly sees the smallest vessels of the tumor and the surrounding healthy tissues on the screen of the angiograph. After that, he injects emboli into the tumor vessels through the same catheter.
Emboli are the spirals or the liquid microspheres. The type of embolus is selected individually, taking into account the diameter of the target vessel. When carrying out chemoembolization, a solution of a chemotherapy drug is additionally injected into the tumor vessel. Due to the subsequent closure of the vessel lumen with an embolus, the chemotherapy drug influences the tumor for a long time. In addition, the drug does not enter the systemic circulation, which allows doctors to use high doses of chemotherapeutic agents without the development of serious side effects. Chemoembolization leads to the destruction of the tumor or slowing down its progression.
After that, the catheter is removed from the artery. The doctor puts a vascular suture on the femoral artery and closes it with a sterile dressing. During chemoembolization, you will be awake. General anesthesia is not used, which significantly reduces the risks of the procedure and allows performing it on an outpatient basis, avoiding long hospital stay.
After the first procedure, you will stay under the supervision of an interventional oncologist and general practitioner. If necessary, you will receive symptomatic treatment. As a rule, a second chemoembolization procedure is performed in 3-5 days after the first one in order to consolidate the therapeutic effect. After that, you will receive recommendations for further follow-up and treatment.
Required documents
- Medical records
- MRI/CT scan (not older than 3 months)
- Biopsy results (if available)
Service
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About the department
The Department of Adult and Pediatric Urology at the University Hospital Mainz offers the full range of services in this field. The department specializes in the diagnostics and treatment of diseases of the kidneys, urinary tract and genital organs in men and boys. The doctors of the department have excellent qualifications and easily cope with both functional disorders, inflammatory diseases, and complex developmental defects in boys, severe forms of prostate cancer in adult men. About 4,500 inpatients and 10,000 outpatients are treated here every year. The department is headed by Prof. Dr. med. Axel Haferkamp.
It should be noted that the department performs all modern surgical interventions for the treatment of urologic diseases. In particular, prostatectomy, kidney surgery, bladder removal, kidney transplantation and reconstructive surgery, as well as surgical treatment of urinary incontinence. In addition, new surgical systems are available in the department, for example, the Da Vinci system for high-precision robotic surgery, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy to remove kidney stones, organ preservation techniques for the removal of urinary tract tumors, etc.
The diagnostic options of the department include:
- Prostate biopsy
- Ultrasound examinations
- Urological X-ray diagnostics
- Endoscopic diagnostics
- Urodynamic studies
- Laboratory tests (within an inhouse laboratory)
- Other diagnostic studies
The department specializes in the diagnostics and treatment of the following urologic diseases:
- Oncological diseases
- Prostate cancer
- Bladder cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Renal pelvis and ureteral cancer
- Testicular cancer in adulthood
- Penile cancer
- Benign prostatic hyperplasia
- Bladder dysfunction and urinary incontinence
- Weak bladder and pelvic floor muscles
- Urinary incontinence
- Neurogenic bladder
- Sphincter and detrusor dysfunction
- Urogenital fistulas
- Interstitial cystitis
- Urinary tract infections
- Stones in the kidneys, ureters, bladder
- Erectile dysfunction (impotence)
- Pediatric urologic diseases
- Bladder exstrophy
- Duplex kidney
- Epispadias
- Urethral stricture
- Undescended testicles
- Hypospadias
- Hydrocele
- Megaureter (congenital ureteral expansion)
- Neurogenic bladder in meningomyelocele
- Phimosis
- Stenosis of the pelvic-ureteric segment
- Vesicoureteral reflux
- Oncological diseases in children
- Testicular tumor
- Neuroblastoma
- Rhabdomyosarcoma
- Nephroblastoma (Wilms’ tumor)
- Other urologic diseases in adults and children
Curriculum vitae
- 10/87 - 07/91 Study of Medicine, Rhine-Westphalian Technical University Aachen.
- 10/91 - 05/94 Study of Medicine, Philipps University of Marburg.
- 29.09.1989 Preliminary Medical Examination.
- 19.09.1990 First State Exam.
- 15.04.1993 Second State Exam.
- 02.05.1994 Third State Exam.
Clinical Practice
- 03/90 Traumatology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland.
- 03/91 Internal Medicine, General Hospital of the spa town of Baden, Austria.
- 07 - 08/91 Neurology, Neurosurgery, Neuroradiology, University of Newcastle, England.
- 03 - 04/92 Urology, Gynecology, St. Barbara Hospital Gladbeck.
Professional Career (admission to medical practice)
- 06.05.1994 Permission to work as an Intern.
- 08.03.1995 Doctoral thesis defense with honors, RWTU Aachen (research of linear and volumetric indices of brain ventricles).
- 08.01.1996 Admission to medical practice.
- 30.08.2001 Medical Specialist in Urology (Medical Association of North Rhine-Westphalia).
- 08.06.2002 Recognized as a Fellow of the European Board of Urology (FEBU).
- 15.07.2005 Habilitation, Heidelberg University.
- 01.10.2008 Optional advanced training, Special Urologic Surgery.
- 15.08.2009 Optional advanced training, Drug Therapy for Tumors.
Professional Career (Positions)
- 07/94 - 09/95 Civil Service: Intern, Department of Urology, Heidelberg University (Head: Prof. Dr. med. G. Staehler).
- 10/95 - 12/95 Intern, Department of Urology, Heidelberg University.
- 01/96 - 04/96 Assistant Physician, Department of Urology, Heidelberg University.
- 05/96 - 04/97 One-year surgical practice, Assistant Physician, Department of Surgery, Heidelberg University (Head: Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. C. Herfarth).
- 05/97 - 04/98 Assistant Physician, Neuro-Urological Ambulatory, Department of Urology, Foundation of the Orthopedic University Hospital (Head: Prof. Dr. med. H.J. Gerner).
- 05/98 - 03/99 Assistant Physician, Department of Urology, Heidelberg University.
- 04/99 - 04/00 Kurt-Engelhorn Research Fellowship, Department of Pathology, State University of New York, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse.
- 05/00 Assistant Physician, Department of Urology, Heidelberg University.
- 08/00 - 12/01 Assistant Physician, Department of Urology, University of Bonn.
- 01/02 - 10/03 Senior Physician, Department of Urology, University of Bonn.
- 01/02 - 10/03 Laboratory Head (Orthopedics, Cardiac Surgery, Urology), University of Bonn.
- 01/02 - 10/03 Kidney Transplant Specialist, Department of Urology, University of Bonn.
- 10/03 - 03/10 Leading Senior Physician and Deputy Head of the Department of Urology, Heidelberg University.
- 07/05 - 03/10 Member of the Advisory Board of the National Cancer Center.
- Since 30.03.2007 Deputy Chairman of the Working Group "Urological Functional Diagnostics and Urology of a Woman" of the German Society of Urology.
- Since 19.04.2010 Head of the Department of Urology, University Hospital Frankfurt.
- Since 2016 Head of the Department of Adult and Pediatric Urology at the University Hospital Mainz.
Photo of the doctor: (c) Universitätsmedizin der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
About hospital
The University Hospital Mainz is one of the best maximum care medical facilities in Germany and an internationally recognized scientific center. There are more than 60 departments and institutes, which represent all fields of modern medicine. The hospital serves more than 68,000 inpatients and more than 273,000 outpatients annually, which testifies to the excellent reputation of this medical institution.
The key to the successful clinical practice is also a highly qualified medical staff, which consists of 7.800 employees from various fields. The doctors of the hospital are convinced that each clinical case requires an individual approach, therefore, they devote much time to consultations and communication with patients. The main goal of all hospital employees is to provide an optimal medical care based on the use of the state-of-art diagnostic and therapeutic measures, as well as the introduction of the latest scientific achievements into the medical practice.
The best interns and assistant physicians are trained here. The world-famous leading physicians of the hospital share their long experience and professional skills. Naturally, an integral part of the university hospital work is research, thanks to which many innovative possibilities in the field of diagnostics and therapy have been developed.
Photo: (c) depositphotos
Accommodation in hospital
Patients rooms
The patients of the University Hospital Mainz live in bright, spacious and comfortable rooms. The patient rooms are equipped with modern electronically adjustable beds, which at the touch of a button automatically assume a specified position. Also, there is a TV and a telephone in the patient rooms. To use them, it is necessary to get a prepaid card (in vending machines at the entrance to the hospital). The use of a TV is free, but the patient will need headphones. Telephone calls are made for a fixed fee, which will be withdrawn from the prepaid card at discharge from the hospital. Also, each patient room is equipped with an ensuite bathroom with shower, washbasin and toilet.
Meals and Menus
The patients of the hospital are offered a tasty and balanced three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menu also includes vegetarian and dietary dishes. In addition, for both patients and their visitors there are available cafeterias and bakeries, where one can buy baked goods, snacks, hot and cold drinks.
Further details
Standard rooms include: