Department of Cardiology and Angiology - University Hospital Saarland Homburg

About the Department of Cardiology and Angiology at University Hospital Saarland Homburg

The Department of Cardiology and Angiology at the University Hospital Saarland Homburg offers all the options of modern medicine for the diagnostics and treatment of heart conditions and vascular diseases. The department's therapeutic options include conservative treatment with the use of modern drugs, interventional treatment within four high-tech cardiac catheterization laboratories, and effective intensive care. The department's cardiologists annually perform more than 5,000 cardiac catheterization procedures, which are a modern alternative to a traumatic operation with a thoracotomy. The most requested catheter-based interventions include TAVI and MitraClip for treating aortic and mitral valve defects, atrial appendage closure, pacemaker and defibrillator placement to treat heart arrhythmias, and catheter ablation. The department also performs urgent interventional procedures on the heart. Doctors specializing in angiology diagnose and treat patients suffering from occlusive peripheral arterial disease, deep vein thrombosis, varicose veins, and other pathologies. Patients are treated in collaboration with vascular surgeons and specialists in interventional radiology. The department also has 80 beds for hospital stays. The Head Physician of the department is Prof. Dr. med. Michael Böhm.

The primary focus of the department's clinical practice is cardiac catheterization. For this purpose, the medical facility is equipped with four advanced cardiac catheterization laboratories, which are located in close proximity to each other. The team of the department's cardiologists has vast experience in the treatment of coronary heart disease with the help of directed catheter atherectomy and the placement of drug-eluting and non-drug-eluting stents. Many patients undergo transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and MitraClip procedures in the department. The TAVI technique is indicated for patients with aortic stenosis, and the MitraClip procedure is an effective treatment method for mitral insufficiency. Catheter-based interventions to close an atrial septal defect, a ventricular septal defect, a patent foramen ovale, and an atrial appendage are also quite in demand.

The exceptional competence of the department's doctors in the treatment of heart arrhythmias deserves special attention. The whole range of examinations is required to confirm the diagnosis of arrhythmia, including ECG Holter monitoring, 24-hour blood pressure monitoring, stress ECG, spiroergometry, a tilt table test, etc. If a patient has bradycardia (a slow heartbeat rate), it is often necessary to implant a pacemaker (in the case of failure of drug treatment), which is performed in the department using catheter-based techniques. Depending on the particular type of pacemaker, the duration of the intervention ranges from 45 minutes to 3 hours. Due to the use of catheter-based techniques, the risks to the patient's health during the intervention are practically zero. Modern pacemaker systems serve for at least 6 years. Every 6-12 months, a patient needs to undergo follow-up examinations so that a doctor can make sure that the pacemaker is working properly. Unlike pacemakers, defibrillators are implanted in patients with rapid heartbeats (tachycardia). Interventional procedures to implant defibrillators are performed under local anesthesia. The duration of the procedure is 1-2 hours. After the completion of treatment, patients should periodically visit a cardiologist to evaluate the performance of the implanted device.

Catheter ablation is successfully used in the department for tachyarrhythmias. The specialists offer two modern forms of this procedure: radiofrequency catheter ablation and cryoablation. The essence of both procedures is the destruction of pathological heart tissue that causes an accelerated heart rate. Catheter ablation is successfully used in the department to combat atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, atrial tachycardia, atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia, and ventricular tachycardia.

The department also provides top-class medical services for patients with various vascular diseases. Along with the Departments of Vascular Surgery and Interventional Radiology, the medical facility has the status of an interdisciplinary Center for Vascular Diseases, certified by the German Society of Vascular Surgery (DGG), the German Radiology Society (DRG), and the German Society for Angiology (DGA). The department's diagnostic rooms are equipped with the necessary devices for conducting color duplex sonography of the carotid arteries and blood vessels in the brain, blood vessels in the abdominal cavity, blood vessels in the kidneys, blood vessels in the upper and lower limbs, continuous wave Doppler of the veins of the upper and lower limbs with pressure measurement, arterial oscillography, occlusion plethysmography, capillary microscopy, and other tests. As for the treatment, the doctors of the medical facility most often prescribe conservative therapy with drugs only. If the pathology is not amenable to drug therapy, angiologists, along with interventional radiologists and vascular surgeons, consider the possibility of performing an endovascular procedure or classical surgery.

The department provides diagnostics and treatment of the following diseases:

• Cardiology
  • Coronary heart disease
  • Heart failure
  • Heart valve disease
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Acute coronary syndrome
  • Myocardial infarction
  • Heart arrhythmias
  • Inflammatory heart disease: endocarditis, myocarditis, and pericarditis
  • Arterial hypertension
• Angiology
  • Occlusive peripheral arterial disease
  • Abdominal aortic aneurysms
  • Vasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessels)
  • Functional circulatory disorders: Raynaud syndrome and acrocyanosis
  • Diseases of the arteries supplying the brain
  • Deep vein thrombosis and superficial vein phlebitis 
  • Varicose veins
• Other pathologies

The department's range of therapeutic services includes:

• Cardiology
  • Drug therapy
  • Interventional catheter-based procedures
    • Directed catheter atherectomy
    • Placement of drug-eluting and non-drug-eluting stents 
    • Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty
    • Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)
    • MitraClip procedure
    • Catheter-based interventions for atrial septal defect closure
    • Catheter-based interventions for ventricular septal defect closure
    • Catheter-based interventions for patent foramen ovale closure
    • Catheter-based interventions for atrial appendage closure
    • Catheter-based implantation of pacemakers and defibrillators
    • Cardiac resynchronization therapy
    • Radiofrequency catheter ablation and cryoablation
    • Catheter-based interventions for implanting artificial cardiac assist systems: ventricular assist devices (for the left or right ventricle) and biventricular assist devices
• Angiology
  • Drug therapy
  • Endovascular procedures and open surgery (in cooperation with vascular surgeons and interventional radiologists)
• Other treatment methods