Helios Krefeld clinic: Cardiac Surgery department

The Department of Adult and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at the German clinic Helios Krefeld uses innovative technologies and offers a wide range of services.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation – TAVI

At the Helios Krefeld Clinic, the TAVI procedure does not include sternum cutting or artificial circulation. The catheter is advanced through the inguinal artery and aorta into the heart. If the size of the inguinal vessels is small or if the main arteries are heavily calcified, a different method is used for access.

The folded biological prosthesis is advanced through the catheter to the site of the affected aortic valve. It then expands so that the affected heart valve is pressed into the aortic wall and replaced.

Reconstruction of the aortic valve

Cardiologists at the Helios Krefeld Clinic perform the following operations:

• Yakub remodeling – a treatment option for people with Marfan syndrome;
• David reimplantation (valve replacement of the aortic root).

The advantages of these methods:

• Minimal interference with the body;
• Low chance of postoperative inflammation (endocarditis);
• The person is not dependent on blood-thinning drugs after surgery.

Other operations carried out in the department:

• Ross operation – the patient’s own tissues are used to replace the valve, this makes the operation more reliable and reduces the risk of tissue rejection in the postoperative period. The department has already performed more than 500 such surgical interventions, of which 99% are successful;
• Operation Ozaki – here an endogenous valve (the body’s own tissue) is used. Unlike mechanical prostheses made of titanium, a valve made from one’s own tissue adapts much better to the body.