German medical news

JINARC® (Tolvaptan) is the first drug approved in Europe for the specific treatment of ADPKD, for adult patients with stage 1-3 chronic kidney disease at baseline showing evidence of rapidly progressing disease. Tolvaptan is a selective vasopressin V2 receptor antagonist that slows the loss of kidney function and the growth of kidney cysts. The efficacy and safety of tolvaptan have been demonstrated in a clinical trial programme that includes the international three-year randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled TEMPO 3/4 study in more than 1,400 adult patients with ADPKD. If you have ADPKD, get in touch with us! We will arrange a consultation for you with leading German experts.

Only a handful of surgeons worldwide perform this unique operation. One of them works in Germany. In this technique the vertebrae are secured with screws, just as in rigid spinal fixation, but the screws are connected to one another by special cords (a braid of medical-grade plastic), which makes it possible to correct the curvature while preserving the flexibility of the spine. One of its advantages is a less invasive surgical technique compared with rigid vertebral stabilisation. In many cases the operation can be performed using a so-called video-assisted minimally invasive technique, which reduces post-operative pain compared with classic surgery. The most important advantage, however, is the preservation of spinal mobility and the favourable effect this has on the adjacent segments.

MYR Pharmaceuticals, a German biotechnology company specialising in the development and commercialisation of therapies for chronic hepatitis B and D, has announced the successful launch of HEPCLUDEX® (bulevirtide) in Germany, France and Austria.
On 31 July 2020 HEPCLUDEX® received authorisation from the European Commission as the first drug approved in Europe for the treatment of adult patients with chronic hepatitis delta virus (hepatitis D virus) infection and compensated liver disease.

About HEPCLUDEX® (INN = bulevirtide)
HEPCLUDEX® is the first approved treatment for chronic hepatitis D in Europe. HEPCLUDEX® blocks the NTCP receptor on the surface of hepatocytes and prevents the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and the hepatitis D virus (HDV) from entering hepatocytes and spreading within the liver. HEPCLUDEX® has been granted orphan drug status for the treatment of HBV infection by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). HEPCLUDEX® has been granted eligibility for inclusion in the PRIority MEdicines (PRIME) scheme of the European Medicines Agency and has received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

 About hepatitis Delta
Chronic hepatitis Delta is the most severe form of viral hepatitis in humans and is caused by infection with the hepatitis Delta virus (HDV). Hepatitis D occurs only as a co-infection in people infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Co-infection leads to more serious liver disease than infection with HBV alone and is associated with faster progression of liver fibrosis, liver cirrhosis and decompensated cirrhosis, and with an increased risk of liver cancer and liver failure.

Since May 2018 the Department of Nuclear Medicine at University Hospital RWTH Aachen has been using PSMA-radioguided surgery in the treatment of prostate carcinoma. This treatment is particularly valuable for locating the smallest cancer-affected lymph nodes in patients with locoregional lymph node metastases or soft-tissue metastases. This is a unique opportunity to provide targeted help to patients with prostate cancer in cases that do not respond to hormone therapy or chemotherapy.

Glioblastomas are the most common type of malignant brain tumour in adults. Researchers at the University Medical Centre of Mainz have now identified a potentially new treatment option for this fatal disease: a combination therapy consisting of two antibodies — anti-EGFL7 and anti-VEGF, which inhibit angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels) — and the chemotherapy drug temozolomide. This combination can halt the growth of glioblastoma. The results of the research project were recently published in the renowned journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.

The Medical Professional Workshop offers professional face-to-face meetings with key patient-referral partners and participation in a unique business platform unlike any other event in the medical industry. Thanks to many years of experience, the event is designed and planned so that sellers and potential buyers of services – medical institutions – have the opportunity to establish partnerships within a single day.

The European centre of expertise at the Department of Gastroenterology, Metabolic Diseases and Intensive Care Medicine, which studies the effects of alpha-antitrypsin deficiency (alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency) on the liver, offers patients comprehensive and highly specialised care. Together with the specialists of the Institute for Rare Diseases at University Hospital Aachen, the specialists  of the Department of Gastroenterology, Metabolic Diseases and Intensive Care Medicine working in hepatology and metabolic disease diagnose and treat patients with rare liver diseases. Alongside other rare liver diseases, the European centre of expertise at the gastroenterology department specialises in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. The European centre of expertise for liver disease conducts intensive scientific and clinical research and serves as a European centre of expertise and coordination within the European Reference Network for Rare Liver Diseases (ERN Rare-Liver) and the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL). In addition, the centre of expertise cooperates with pulmonology clinics specialising in the effects  of alpha-antitrypsin deficiency on the lungs. Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AAT deficiency) is a frequently underestimated inherited metabolic disorder. In addition to lung disease, AAT deficiency leads to liver damage in 50% of patients. Although liver damage is the second leading cause of reduced quality of life and life expectancy in patients with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, there is no established programme of preventive diagnostic screening for it, unlike the work-up of its effects on the lungs. To close this gap, a group of hepatologists led by PD Dr. med. Pavel Strnad initiated a multicentre registry study. Dr. Strnad's achievements in this field have been recognised with two European awards: the expansion of this registry is funded and supported by the European Reference Network for Rare Liver Diseases (ERN Rare-Liver) and the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL).

Hyperthermic intrathoracic chemotherapy is a modern method of treating cancer in which, during surgery, the chest cavity is lavaged with heated chemotherapy drugs perfused in a carrier solution. This method is used in the treatment of malignant diseases of the pleura only in strictly defined cases. Combined with surgical removal of the pleura, the technique is used in cancers of the pleural cavity. Using a special perfusion pump, the chest cavity is lavaged for approximately 60 minutes with a chemotherapy solution heated to 42°C. In this way local chemotherapy destroys any cancer cells that may remain after removal of the pleura. Heating the solution significantly increases the depth of penetration and the effectiveness of the chemotherapy drug. This technique is often used as part of multimodal therapy (a combination of surgical tumour removal, systemic chemotherapy, radiotherapy and intraoperative hyperthermic intrathoracic chemotherapy). Hyperthermic intrathoracic chemotherapy (HITOC) can be used in the treatment of the following clinical conditions:

• malignant pleural mesothelioma;
• thymoma (cancer of the thymus gland);
• metastatic thymoma;
• locally metastasising bronchogenic cancer (lung cancer, bronchogenic carcinoma);
• involvement of the pleura in pleural cancer and other malignant diseases (breast carcinoma, bowel cancer).

The company msp group germany offers "vaccination tours" in Germany for children and adults. The package includes:

• arranging the complete set of services included in a vaccination tour for the family;
• transfer from Cologne/Bonn airport or Düsseldorf airport —> hotel —> airport;
• 3-star hotel with a fully equipped kitchen — €79 — €89 per night for 2-3 people;
• interpreter services;
• the cost of the vaccination at a paediatrician or family doctor;
• a consultation with a general practitioner;
• examination of the patient;
• completion of the informed consent form for vaccination;
• review of the vaccination history;
• the cost of the vaccine;
• entry of the vaccine details in the international certificate of vaccination (if available) or vaccination passport.

The cost of the package depends on the type of vaccine and ranges from €650 to €730.

Every case is considered individually (depending on the clinical picture, concomitant conditions, the form of retinoblastoma (hereditary or non-hereditary), the stage and extent of the disease, and the diagnostics and treatment already carried out). In hereditary forms of retinoblastoma, ophthalmological and molecular genetic examination of the patient's siblings and parents is indicated. In Germany, the treatment of retinoblastoma is based not on a single treatment protocol but on so-called controlled clinical trials. Their aim is to treat patients according to the very latest developments while at the same time improving the effectiveness of the available therapies. Patients with the hereditary form of retinoblastoma have the opportunity to join a European research protocol investigating the causes of second tumours after retinoblastoma has been successfully treated (the research protocol "Screening for second tumours in children with hereditary retinoblastoma"). Within this screening study children undergo an MRI scan of the head once a year. The criteria for admitting children to this protocol are: the hereditary form of retinoblastoma, radiotherapy received during treatment, and an age between 8 and 18 years. The central research office is located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Contact us and we will help you get in touch with this office.

MRgFUS (MR-guided focused ultrasound) is the abbreviation for the MRI-guided procedure used to treat uterine fibroids. The principle of the method is the targeted thermal action of a focused beam of ultrasound waves on the fibroid tissue. The fibroid tissue is destroyed (vaporised) at a temperature of 60-80°C, while the surrounding tissue remains completely unharmed. The fibroid shrinks, and the destroyed fibroid structures break down and are absorbed by the body. MRI serves to plan, guide and monitor the accuracy, the temperature at the treatment site and the quality of the therapy.