Certification as " National Heart Failure Center
The center offers the entire spectrum of diagnostics and therapy for heart failure and strengthens the network with cooperating hospitals and physicians in private practice in the region.
The Universitätsklinik für Kardiologie und Angiologie Magdeburg under the direction of Prof. Dr. med. Rüdiger Braun-Dullaeus and the Universitätsklinik für Herz- und Thoraxchirurgie Magdeburg under the direction of Prof. Dr. med. Jens Wippermann receive from the Deutschen Gesellschaft für Kardiologie-, Herz- und Kreislaufforschung e.V. (DGK) as well as the Deutschen Gesellschaft für Thorax-, Herz- und Gefäßchirurgie e.V (DGTHG) the certificate " National Heart Failure Center". This gives Magdeburg University Hospital a unique selling point in northern Saxony-Anhalt.
"We are very proud of the certificate. This is because the close networking with the cooperating hospitals and cardiologists in private practice, as well as colleagues from the northern Altmark region to the Harz region, enables optimal outpatient and inpatient treatment of people with heart failure and can thus further significantly improve their well-being and chances of survival," says Prof. Braun-Dullaeus.
Photo: Team of the National Heart Failure Center; from left: Dr. Michael Hansen, Senior Physician at the University Hospital for Cardiology and Angiology; Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Braun-Dullaeus, Director of the University Hospital for Cardiology and Angiology; Prof. Dr. Alexander Schmeißer, deputy director of the University Hospital for Cardiology and Angiology; Karsten Anklam, health and nursing officer; Matthias Alt, intensive care specialist nurse; Prof. Dr. Jens Wippermann, director of the University Hospital for Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery; Dr. Tarek Bekfani, senior physician at the University Hospital for Cardiology and Angiology; Doreen Stahlberg, health and nursing officer.
Photographer: Melitta Schubert/UMMD
Heart failure, also known as cardiac insufficiency, is a restriction of the heart's pumping capacity. Due to the weakness of the heart muscle, there is a reduced blood supply and thus oxygen supply to the organs. In addition to a reduction in performance and shortness of breath, this also leads to a restriction in the functions of various organs, such as the kidneys and liver. Despite great therapeutic successes, heart failure is still associated with a high mortality rate, equivalent to medium-severe cancer.
Magdeburg University Hospital treats more than 1,500 heart failure patients per year as inpatients in the Department of Cardiology and Angiology and about 300 patients in the Department of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery Magdeburg.
"We offer the full spectrum of heart failure diagnostics and therapy. This includes echocardiography, spiroeergometry, left and right heart catheterization, human genetic diagnostics, cardio-CT and MRI." emphasizes Dr. Michael Hansen, senior physician and the head of the network. In addition to optimal drug management, the university's cardiology department is highly specialized in catheter-guided and surgical vascular and valve therapies, rhythm implants, and sclerotherapy for severe arrhythmias. For critically ill patients, it offers mechanical support of the heart (ECMO) up to artificial heart therapy, the so-called LVAD therapy. In a special university outpatient clinic for heart failure and cardiomyopathy, many patients with heart failure are treated and cared for together with specialized cardiologists in private practice and clinics. As another aspect of patient care, remote monitoring and telemedicine will be offered to appropriate patients with the goal of avoiding further inpatient stays for patients in the future.
Strict criteria of the DGK (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kardiologie - Herz und Kreislaufforschung e.V. - German Society for Cardiology - Heart and Circulation Research) must be met for the designation of national heart failure center. The Magdeburg University Hospital for Cardiology and Angiology has also already been awarded the distinction of "TAVI Center" in 2019 and "Mitral Valve Center" in 2022.