Treatment of heart disease in Germany

Heart defects are fixed changes in the structure of the heart, which block a normal current of blood. First, it causes disorders of heart valves opening and closing holes between cardiac chambers, as well as between the heart and large vessels which provide the proper blood circulation.

There are acquired and congenital heart defects.

The first group includes pathologic changes of the heart which are acquired during life and are usually caused by a disease (such as rheumatism, fewer septic endocarditis, syphilis, and atherosclerosis).

A congenital heart defect is mainly caused by the improper intrauterine formation of the heart walls (e.g., nonclosure of the interatrial septum), or special intrauterine blood circulation preserved from birth (e.g., Bottalo's duct). Weakness of physical development of the patient, cyanosis (so-called Blue disease), shortbreathing, erytrocytosis, changes of heart boundaries, and the appearance of cardiac murmur are much characterized for this disease.

The most frequent heart diseases are:

• Patent ductus arteriosus (Bottalo's duct)

• Aorticopulmonary window

• Atrial septal defect

• Anomalous pulmonary veins drainage

• Ventricular septal defect

• Mitral valve prolapse

• Sinus of Valsalva aneurysm (SVA)

• Pulmonary artery stenosis

• Aortic Stenosis

• Fallot's tetrad

• Transposition of arterial stems

• Common arterial trunk

• Double discharge of great vessels from the right ventricle

• Single ventricle

• Tricuspid atresia

• Congenital stenosis and mitral insufficiency

• Coronary artery anomalies

• Ebstein's disease

• Aorta angusta

Today, Germany is one of the leading countries in the world for the treatment of heart disease. The highest level of training of specialists and equipment of clinics and health centers offers accurate diagnosis and the best ways to treat each individual case.

The main trend in the development of cardiac surgery in Germany is the use of low-invasive surgical methods. Endovascular techniques are increasingly used with greater efficiency, namely these methods are used without general anesthesia and connection to the pump oxygenator, because the operation is carried out while the beating heart (e.g., in case of correction of defects of the heart walls, heart valves and vascular dysplasia). Traditional methods of surgical intervention are used in cases if it is impossible.

Constant efforts of German cardiac surgeons to improve the already known methods and development and introduction of new ones, as well as a high level of doctors' professionalism and the scientific-technical basis of hospitals achieve the best results of treatment with minimal invasion of the organism!

Information

Mitral valve prolapse is a heave or outpouching of one or both cusps of mitral valves into the left atrium during left ventricular reduction. Mitral valve prolapse often has no clinical manifestations and may occur with pain in heart, in disorders of atrioventricular conduction, and ciliary arrhythmia. There may be dangerous complications: infective endocarditis, the gap chord with severe mitral insufficiency, cerebrovascular embolism.