28.05.2009
Cardiac centre in Heidelberg to step up research

The new cardiac centre in Heidelberg will officially open on June 6 (Copyright: Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg, photographer: Rothe)

Heart surgeons, paediatric and general cardiologists from three Heidelberg university hospitals and heart specialists at the Institute of Pathology and Pathophysiology at the University of Heidelberg will be collaborating much more closely in the future at one of the biggest cardiac centres in Germany – not only delivering top patient care but also expanding the frontiers of medical science. “We need experts from a range of different disciplines in order to catalogue and assess all the aspects of heart disease much better in the future,” says Professor Hugo A. Katus, Director of the Clinic for Cardiology explaining the reason for the new cooperative venture.

The Medical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg is one of the most important biomedical research institutions in Europe. Its Institute for Physiology and Pathophysiology recently reported the development of a drug (in collaboration with AVONTEC) which can be used to “switch off” certain genes which are responsible for cardiac insufficiencies. The drug will be patented this year. Researchers from the Heidelberg Surgery Clinic are currently developing individual and resilient heart valves from patients’ own cells which work just like natural heart valves and which will be subject to clinical trial next year. The cardiological experts at the medical clinic have also developed a gene therapy for cardiac insufficiency which animal testing has shown to be more effective than classic drug treatments.

The new cardiac centre in Heidelberg will treat around 85,000 in and out patients a year. The only place in Germany where more heart transplant procedures are performed than in Heidelberg is Berlin. The new centre will officially open on June 6 with a training congress for medical specialists.

Around 3,100 medical students are currently enrolled in Heidelberg. The entire clinic with its more than 40 clinics and specialist departments has over 1,600 beds. The clinic and medical faculty employ around 7,000 people and provide in and out patient care to almost a half a million people a year.

www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de
www.uni-heidelberg.de