German Paediatric Heart Centre «Asklepios», Sankt Augustin

The German Paediatric Heart Centre «Asklepios» in Sankt Augustin (Deutsche Kinderherzzentrum (DKHZ) Sankt Augustin), close to Bonn, is one of the largest cardiac centres in Germany and treats not only children but also adult patients with congenital heart defects. The centre enjoys an outstanding reputation throughout the world and attracts a large number of international patients.

From the twentieth week of pregnancy, once a cardiac abnormality is detected in the foetus while still in the womb, the child is kept under the close supervision of the doctors of the German Paediatric Heart Centre «Asklepios» in Sankt Augustin. This follow-up continues throughout the entire life of a person with a history of cardiac problems.

The diagnostic services of the Paediatric Heart Centre include cardiac ultrasound, ECG, pacemaker monitoring and pacemaker programming, cardiac MRI, and diagnostic and invasive procedures in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory. Patients of the centre have access to the very latest diagnostic methods and to the experience and expertise of Germany's finest paediatric cardiologists. The clinic's staff – paediatric cardiologists, anaesthetists, nurses, psychologists and other specialists – have achieved remarkable results in their fields: young patients leave the clinic virtually healthy and able to lead a normal life, to the immense joy of their parents.

Advanced diagnostic work-up determines the treatment strategy. Cardiology has been developing extraordinarily quickly in recent years. Cardiologists now have at their disposal methods for the rapid diagnosis of the most severe diseases and malformations, as well as invasive therapeutic techniques that do not require surgery. New diagnostic and therapeutic innovations make it possible not only to avoid open-heart surgery (and therefore the complications that follow such operations), but also to shorten the patient's hospital stay considerably. The latter is of particular importance given the age of the patients.

During invasive cardiac procedures a small incision is made in the abdominal area and a catheter port is placed, through which photo and video cameras, catheters for fixing vessel walls, balloons for PTCA (percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty) and other devices are introduced into the vessels and into the heart. These are used to correct defects of the vascular system and to restore the function of the heart completely. The paediatric cardiology department of the German Paediatric Heart Centre in Sankt Augustin enjoys the highest reputation, in Germany and beyond, for how reliably its doctors achieve a complete cure. The high cure rate and the positive feedback from patients and their families speak for themselves as to the quality of medical care and the professionalism of the department's staff.
The Centre's results are analysed and assessed in the European database. Thanks to this continuous monitoring of its work, the Centre is consistently ranked among the best medical institutions in Europe.

Professor Martin B. E. Schneider, MD and honorary professor (Prof. Prof. hc. Dr. med. Martin Schneider), has headed the paediatric cardiology department in Sankt Augustin since 2003. Professor Schneider's name is known throughout the medical world — as a clinician, as a gifted researcher and as an outstanding speaker. He is a welcome guest at many universities of international renown. Professor M. Schneider is a member of a number of German and international specialist societies and associations and an expert of worldwide standing. Working together with other specialist expert centres (in particular the West German Heart Centre, part of the university medical complex in Essen), Professor Schneider and his team do everything possible and even what seems impossible to save the lives of their young and adult patients. The work of the German Paediatric Heart Centre in Sankt Augustin is subject to rigorous quality-assurance review. The Centre's results are analysed and assessed in the European database. On the basis of these assessments the Centre is consistently ranked among the best medical institutions in Europe.