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Transplant Center

Outpatient clinic for heart failure

Our special out-patient clinic for heart failure provides outpatient care for patients starting from the very early stages of their disease. The close monitoring combined with various therapeutic measures may help slow the progress of the disease. The proper time when the implantation of a defibrillator is potentially required can be determined early on. More than 600 patients are treated every year under the management of Professor Dr. Veselin Mitrovic. The highly qualified outpatient care is particularly crucial for patients with severe chronic heart failure. Complications such as arrhythmia and extrasystoles represent a major risk of death for this patient group. Monitoring of the heart function at close intervals including measurement of the cardiac pumping capacity by means of ultrasound, micro-catheterisation or ECG significantly decreases this risk for patients treated here.

On the occasion of internal transplantation conferences, an interdisciplinary team consisting of heart surgeons and cardiologists regularly reviews if and when the transplantation may be meaningful and necessary for a patient.

In July, 2007 the range of health care services rendered by the Kerckhoff clinical center was supplemented with a center for heart transplantation and artificial heart therapy. It is closing a gap in the supply shortage of both fields in Hesse and enables the medical treatment of patients in Hessen for whom a heart transplant represents the last therapeutic option close to their home. Outstanding staff and equipment as well as consistent process management and interdisciplinary collaboration make the transplant center one of the most efficient intensive care units. With a capacity for more than 20 transplants and 40 artificial heart implants per year, the centre for heart transplantation and artificial heart therapy is the largest of its kind in Hesse.

Interdisciplinary collaboration is the condition for top quality

The optimal collaboration between medical specialists of different fields is crucial for the efficiency of the center and the desired high level of quality of transplant surgery because the actual transplantation of a heart is only part of the long-term intensive treatment and care of the patients. In addition to the preparation and care of the patients during the generally long waiting time for a donor heart, the extensive and complex follow-up care after the transplantation is crucial. Out claim for superior medical quality can only be achieved with the fine-tuned coordination of all special fields involved, including heart surgery, cardiology, pneumology, pathology, rehabilitation medicine and specially trained nursing staff during the various treatment phases ranging from the out-patient treatment of the heart failure patient to the heart transplantation and follow-up care. Many years of experience enable the Kerckhoff clinical center to render this complex treatment process in an optimal fashion.

Artificial heart therapy at the Kerckhoff clinical center

The range of services is extended with the possibility of artificial heart therapy used to help patients in the advanced stage of heart failure to bridge the waiting time for a donor heart. The low readiness to donate organs in Germany represents one of the major stress factors for these patients: the waiting time for a donor heart is still more than 12 months. Every year, more than half of all patients on the waiting list do not receive a donor heart. At the Kerckhoff clinical center we provide artificial hearts for implantation into the chest cavity. We also boast some experience with the new "small pump machines" which can be connected to the circulation from the outside in case of acute symptoms. For patients with rapidly deteriorating health during the waiting time, a mechanical heart support system such as the artificial heart is, therefore, frequently the only remaining possible life-saving option.

Transplantation figures

377 hearts, 2,076 kidneys, 36 lungs and 12 pancreases were transplanted in Germany in 2006 - for a total of 3,827 organ transplants. In contrast, 11,587 patients failed to receive a donor organ; 523 of them were heart patients.

Artificial heart

An artificial heart is an electronically controlled pump system. It is used to support an impaired heart or to replace it completely. The left-ventricular support system is the most common form; it is used in patients with heart failure to support the left ventricle. The pump is placed between the pleura and pericardium and is connected to the heart and aorta with two synthetic tubes. It is electronically controlled and supplied with current via a cable. The cable is lead through the skin and connects the artificial heart with batteries and the electronic controller. The support relieves strain from the heart, while at the same time optimally resupplying the other organs with blood.

Working group nursing staff in the transplantation department: if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at all times.

Contact Transplantation Center:

Secretary:
A. Iwanowsky
Phone: +49 6032/ 996 2188
Fax: +49 6032/ 996 2156