Outpatient clinics and consultation hours

The ‘General Cardiology’ consultation is the first point of contact for many of our outpatients with cardiovascular complaints. Our range of services includes

• Clarification of symptoms such as chest pain or breathlessness
• Diagnosis of suspected coronary heart disease following cardiac catheterisation, especially after a heart attack
• heart failure
• Heart valve diseases
• Cardiac arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation
• Difficult blood pressure control
• Focused cardiological diagnostics after SARS-CoV-2 infection

We can often make an initial assessment with just a few targeted tests. In addition to the possibility of initiating drug therapies, non-drug approaches are also discussed with patients (e.g. nutritional counselling). If it makes sense to administer a medication, we will provide the corresponding prescription. If necessary, all further examinations and treatments are also available to you at our clinic.

In special cases, e.g. after a complex operation, you will receive further treatment in the appropriate specialised outpatient clinic.

Registration:

We can usually offer you an appointment at short notice. We will endeavour to clarify whether certain functional tests are necessary from the outset. If blood values have already been determined by your family doctor or other informative examinations have been carried out, we ask you to bring the results with you to the appointment. Otherwise, we will usually take a blood sample and perform an ultrasound of the heart (TTE). If further cardiological diagnostics are useful, we can plan these during the consultation.

Duplex sonographic and colour Doppler sonographic examinations are carried out as part of our vascular consultation.
The holistic view of the vascular disease, including all of our patients' vascular provinces, enables us to draw up an individual treatment plan tailored to the requirements and priorities. If there is a narrowing or occlusion of a vascular province, further diagnostics and treatment can be initiated, taking into account the cardiac morbidity.
The treatment spectrum includes peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAD), renovascular and cerebrovascular disease as well as atherosclerosis of the large vessels (aortic disease).

Individual treatment and counselling

Our special consultation hours for lipometabolic disorders are aimed at patients who already have a known lipometabolic disorder, but also at those of you for whom the early detection and treatment of such a disease is particularly important. This includes patients with diseases of the cardiovascular system. Even if you have relatives with lipometabolic disorders in your family, you should seek advice on your individual risk at an early stage.

If you are found to have abnormalities in your lipometabolism, such as elevated cholesterol levels or elevated lipoprotein (a), individualised treatment will be initiated during our consultation hours. These can range from general measures such as nutritional counselling to the administration of state-of-the-art medication.

Booking:

We can usually offer you an appointment at short notice. If your general practitioner has already determined the relevant blood values or carried out other informative tests, we ask you to bring the results with you to your appointment. Otherwise, we will usually take a blood sample. If further cardiological diagnostics are useful, we can plan these during the consultation.

Individual treatment and counselling

In our specialised outpatient clinic for high blood pressure, we focus on patients with already known high blood pressure, but also on those of you for whom early recognition and treatment of such a condition is particularly important. These include patients with other risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

In addition to the clarification and treatment of possible causes of high blood pressure (secondary hypertension), individual counselling is provided regarding necessary non-medication measures such as nutritional advice. If necessary, individual drug therapy is also initiated or optimised and monitored.

We can also advise you on newer treatment options, such as the sclerotherapy of nerve fibres in the vascular wall of the renal arteries (renal denervation) or the implantation of a blood pressure pacemaker (baroreceptor stimulation).

The outpatient rhythmology department is responsible for

• Pacemaker and ICD outpatient clinic: follow-up checks on pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators
• Cardiac rhythm outpatient clinic: arrhythmia consultation for outpatients

All currently available diagnostic procedures are available for patients with heart failure. These include echocardiography, cardiac MRI, PET-CT, myocardial biopsy, genetic diagnostics, comprehensive laboratory diagnostics, cardiopulmonary performance diagnostics, 24-hour ECGs, 24-hour blood pressure measurement, event recorders, invasive haemodynamic measurement at rest and during exercise and vasoreactivity testing.

In addition to heart failure therapy with medication, we offer the following invasive procedures to treat cardiomyopathies:

• Percutaneous coronary revascularisation (incl. chronic coronary occlusions CTO)
• Transcoronary ablation of septal hypertrophy (TASH) for HOCM
• Interventional closure of intracardiac shunts (ASD, VSD)
• Mitral valve valvuloplasty
• Percutaneous therapy of mitral valve insufficiency (MitraClip)
• Minimally invasive aortic valve replacement using catheter technology (TAVI)
• Ablation therapy for all ventricular and supraventricular arrhythmias
• Implantation of systems for cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT)
• Implantation of all common pacemaker and defibrillator systems
• Implantation of subcutaneous defibrillator systems (S-ICD)
• Prescription of LifeVest®, defibrillator waistcoat
• Cardiac contraction modulation (CCM)

In addition, patients with terminal heart failure are offered all methods of mechanical circulatory support therapy (‘artificial heart therapy’), including preparation for heart transplantation (HTX).

Depending on the current symptoms, treatment is offered either on an outpatient basis or, in the event of severe impairment of performance as part of cardiac decompensation, on an inpatient basis in our special heart failure ward.

Head:

Prof Dr Bettina Heidecker

Medical team:

Dr Nora Köpcke

Dr Marie Therese Amtenbrink

Contact person for patients:

Alexandra Jäger

Organisation of appointments for consultation hours

Patients are also cared for by the Heart Failure Nurse Daniela Hinrichs. This enables optimal cross-sector continuity of treatment with doctors in private practice and other clinics. Together with PD Dr Heidecker, Ms Hinrichs is also in charge of the heart failure network, in which patient training and the optimisation of patient care are carried out in collaboration with the network partners.

The Department of Cardiology at the Benjamin Franklin Campus has a specialised outpatient clinic for patients with valvular heart disease. Appointments can be made by calling the outpatient clinic telephone number after referral by the family doctor or the cardiologist in charge.

We also offer patients with heart valve disease regular check-ups with an examination by a specialist so that we can react in good time in the event of changes.

If you are a general practitioner or cardiologist in private practice and would like to discuss patient cases with us, you can contact us at any time by telephone via the senior physician's office.

Head: PD Dr. Markus Reinthaler

Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating, stopping the flow of blood to the brain and other vital organs. This means that the body no longer receives oxygen, which can be life-threatening within minutes if action is not taken quickly. Temporary interruption of blood flow to the brain and other vital organs can result in both short and long-term organ dysfunction in cardiac arrest survivors. Comprehensive aftercare is therefore important.

In order to meet the needs of patients who have survived a cardiac arrest, the Department of Cardiology, Angiology and Intensive Care Medicine at the Benjamin Franklin Campus has set up the so-called "Post-Resuscitation Outpatient Clinic ’. This specialised outpatient clinic was developed in close collaboration with experts from the fields of cardiology, neurology, psychology and social medicine. Patients can register here for a comprehensive follow-up examination of their physical, mental and psychological functions in order to receive the best possible support on the road to recovery.

Contact:Dr. med. Tharusan Thevathasan

More information on the resuscitation of patients with cardiac arrest

Patients with a high hereditary risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks, myocardial diseases and other genetically determined cardiovascular diseases are treated in the special outpatient clinic for cardiovascular genetics.
Patients who have undergone catheter intervention at our clinic for acute coronary syndromes (e.g. heart attacks) are specifically counselled and treated to reduce their genetic risk factors. For these patients, the optimal reduction of conventional risk factors (e.g. genetic disorders of LDL/HDL cholesterol, Lp(a) or apolipoproteins) is sought through optimised standard drug therapy or as part of scientific studies. In addition to differentiated lipid metabolism diagnostics, molecular genetic and further diagnostics may also be carried out. We also offer counselling for family members.

Dr Markus Anker and Dr Lucie Kretzler jointly look after tumour patients in our cardio-oncology outpatient clinic. All patients with a cardiological problem (with a referral to cardiology) who are currently suffering from a tumour or have done so in the past can present here. The cornerstones of cardiovascular diagnostics include the electrocardiogram (ECG), transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and cardiovascular blood values.
A note for patients: Please bring your last oncological and, if applicable, your last cardiological doctor's letter with you to your appointment.