According to the voluntary registry founded by the German Society for thoracic and cardiovascular surgery (GSTCVS), nearly 92,838 heart surgeries were performed in Germany, in 2021. This is quite a high number since it is in spite of the ongoing pandemic world conditions due to Coronavirus disease 2019.
What Is Cardiac Surgery?
Cardiac surgeries are surgical or operative procedures performed to treat heart problems when all the other medications for heart and blood vessels have no better results with the existing patient condition.
What Are Cardiac Problems?
With the increasingly modern and complex lifestyles, the number of cardiac problems is increasing day by day.
Heart problems are not confined to the heart alone but are concerned with the blood vessels that begin at the heart. There is a wide range of prevailing cardiac problems. Many of them push an individual into a life-threatening situation too.
Here is a list of some cardiac problems that require surgery.
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Coronary artery disease: A plaque builds up in the blood vessel or artery supplying blood to the heart muscle. This either narrows the blood passage, partially or completely leading to a stoppage of blood supply to the heart.
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Heart valve diseases: Human heart has valves that ensure the correct flow of blood. In humans suffering from heart valve diseases, there are defects in the valves, and they do not close or open efficiently. In turn, the blood is not pumped properly throughout the body. It is also called valvular heart disease.
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Arrhythmia: Heart muscles contract and pump blood to the lungs and other parts of the body that reflects out as a heartbeat. The normal heartbeat ranges between 60-100 beats per minute.
But some people experience abnormality in the heartbeat and face either too fast beating (tachycardia) or too slow beating heart (bradycardia). This condition is called arrhythmia.
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Heart failure: The heart cannot pump blood efficiently to all parts of the body. This either results in backflow of blood into lungs and limbs or poor oxygen supply to body parts over a longer period.
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Heart attack: The blood flow to the heart is blocked by the blood clot in blood vessels. This results in the death of the heart tissues leaving a scar on the heart muscle. It is also called a myocardial infarction.
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Angina: The restricted blood flow to the heart muscle most commonly by coronary artery disease leads to discomfort, tightness, and squeezing sensation associated with chest pain. This discomfort is called angina.
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Heart aneurysm: A bulge or enlargement in the aorta wall is called a heart aneurysm. Aorta is the largest blood vessel that carries oxygen-rich blood from the heart to various other body parts.
The aneurysms are life-threatening and occur in the weak area of the aorta wall. It can either burst (causing internal bleeding) or split up (causing blood to leak between blood vessel wall layers).
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Structural heart diseases: Abnormalities in the heart structures like the valves, chambers, heart walls, and muscles are categorized as structural heart diseases. In the human body, the heart pumps blood and it is the duty of all the structures to maintain the blood flow in the right direction while maintaining an appropriate pace.
Any abnormal structure compromises the healthy functioning of the heart. Leaky valves, stenosis, articular septal defects, ventricular septal defects, and coarctation in the aorta are some commonly occurring structural heart diseases.
Heart problems are either congenital or acquired defects.
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Congenital heart problems: Structural heart diseases are mostly congenital heart problems or birth defects associated with the heart.
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Acquired heart problems: They occur in adults during their lifetime. Bad lifestyle, age, and male gender allow an individual to acquire these heart problems.
What Kind Of Surgeries Are Cardiac Surgeries?
Cardiac surgery is not the solution for all heart-related problems. Most cardiac problems in their initial stages are treated by medication and by installing healthy lifestyle changes.
Cardiac surgeries are of different types and the cardiac surgeon decides the types of cardiac surgery a person requires based on the type of cardiac ailment, age and other factors.
Many times cardiac surgeries are planned surgeries. While there is an equal percentage of emergency cardiac surgeries in critical emergency conditions. Open surgeries for massive heart attacks are sudden unplanned life-saving surgeries.
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Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG): This is done in cases of blocked arteries due to coronary artery disease. The blocked part of the artery is bypassed by a healthy blood vessel graft obtained from another part of the body. This allows the blood to take a new path avoiding the blocked artery and continuing its flow at a normal pace.
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Heart valve surgery: The damaged or defective valves are either repaired or replaced by mechanical valves or biological valves (of cow, pig or human origin). The type of surgery repair or replacement largely depends on the type of defective valve (tricuspid, mitral, aortic or pulmonary).
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Aneurysm surgery: The weak or bulging part of the artery is replaced by the synthetic graft which is a fabric tube.
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Septal myectomy: It is an open-heart surgical procedure done to treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy cases. A part of heart tissue more usually the septum separating the left and right parts of the heart becomes thickened. The cardiac surgeon removes a part of the thickened septum so that the normal flow of the blood is maintained.
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Maze procedure: The irregular heartbeats in the upper heart chamber called atrial fibrillation are treated by the Maze procedure. In this procedure, a cardiac surgeon creates a simple scar on the upper chamber of the heart using a device delivering heat or cold energy.
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Insertion of cardiac device: Cardiac devices are inserted into the heart. Based on the existing medical ailment, the insertion device varies.
Permanent pacemakers are inserted to normalize the abnormal heartbeat and in turn, support the electrical system of the heart.
Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), left ventricular assist device (LVAD) and total artificial heart (TAH) are the other cardiac devices.
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Heart transplant surgery: It is performed in entirely sick cases where the healthy, compatible donor heart is used to replace the patient's, sick heart.
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Pericardectomy: It is the surgical removal of the pericardium or sac surrounding the heart. It is done in cases of pericarditis due to cancer, an autoimmune condition or inflammation.
It is an open heart surgery done through an incision in the breast bone.
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Transmyocradial laser revascularization: It is done in coronary heart disease patients who cannot tolerate a CABG. A carbon dioxide laser is used to make tiny pinholes in the heart muscle to improve the oxygen-rich blood flow.
How Long Does Cardiac Surgery Take?
A pacemaker surgery is considered a minor surgery and it takes 1-2 hours. CABG, aneurysm, and heart transplant surgeries are major surgeries and take around 3-6 hours of time. In CABG and aneurysm surgeries the duration varies according to the number of bypasses performed.
What Is The Recovery Period For Cardiac Surgeries?
Major cardiac surgeries like open heart surgery require a recovery period of three months while the patient has to spend a hospital stay of 4-5 days. Minimal surgeries require a recovery period of a month. In case of any complications, the length of the period increases.
Post-Discharge Care For Cardiac Surgery
The patients who underwent a recent cardiac surgery are advised to minimize their physical activity for a certain time period until recovery.
Weight lifting and carrying weights are to be avoided in cases of open surgeries.
Medications should be used without fail and follow-up check-ups are a must to be followed post-discharge.
Why Should One Choose Germany For Cardiac Surgery?
Germany is one of the best places on the globe, and cardiac patients from different nations can choose for surgeries. It must be admitted that Germany has the finest equipment and modernized clinics to help people from all over the world. Many hospitals even offer language translation services for helping patients across the globe. And the German clinics have the best rehabilitation services which might be needed for the recovery of some patients.
Well-trained German doctors have years of experience in dealing with cardiac problems. German hospitals offer solutions for major cardiac procedures like coronary artery diseases, heart failures, and structural and congenital heart defects.
Best Hospitals For Cardiac Surgery In Germany
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Helios Park Hospital, Leipzig: It is among the top hospitals in Germany according to Focus magazine. Coronary stenting, CABG, pediatric cardiology treatments, and radiofrequency ablation are commonly performed here.
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Asklepios St. Georg Hospital: It received 18 awards and certificates for its high-quality medical services. It is certified by the Centre for transcatheter Aortic valve implantation, Germany.
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Meoclinic Hospital, Berlin: It is certified by ISO9001:2008 Quality standards and this hospital uses the latest equipment including the EEG, Doppler ultrasonography, CT, and MRI scans.
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University Hospital Dusseldorf: This hospital has one of the best cardiology centers in Germany. Nearly more than 50,000 cardiac surgeries were performed in the hospital's cardiology department since 1938.
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University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt: This hospital has 1500 beds and provides quality healthcare in cardiac surgery.
Top Cardiac Surgeons In Germany
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Prof. Dr. Christoph Bode: He is an interventional cardiologist with 34+ years of experience in dealing with congenital heart defects and cardiac catheterization atherectomy.
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Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Beyersdorf: He is a reputed interventional cardiologist with 26 + years of experience.
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Prof. Dr. Franz-Josef Neumann: He is an interventional cardiologist with 38+ years of experience in dealing with pediatric and congenital heart diseases, cardiac catheterization, surgical ventricular restoration, and atherectomy.
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Prof. Dr. Med. Henning Baberg: He is a renowned cardiac surgeon with 22+ years of experience in arterial appendage closure, atrial septal defect closure, heart catheter, and coronary angioplasty.
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Prof. Dr. med. Sigrid Nikol: She is a reputed cardiac surgeon who has 31+ years of experience in cardiac and vascular surgery.
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Prof. Dr. med. Michael Weyand: He is well known cardiac surgeon with 26+ years of experience in dealing with CABG, heart transplantation, minimally invasive heart valve surgery, and pacemaker and defibrillator implantation.
Cost Of Cardiac Surgery In Germany
The approximate starting costs for different cardiac surgeries in Germany are tabulated below.
| Treatment name | Starting cost in Germany (USD) |
| Heart bypass surgery (CABG) | 19,000 |
| 29,000 | |
| 40,000 | |
| 50,000 | |
| 61,000 | |
| 14,000 | |
| 12,000 | |
| 22,000 | |
| 13,000 | |
| 8,000 |
How To Obtain A Medical Visa For Cardiac Surgery In Germany?
To proceed to cardiac surgery in Germany, a patient must obtain a medical visa from the German authorities.
The minimally required documents include
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A medical certificate from a physician stating the medical condition (the type of heart ailment) and treatment requirements.
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Documents reflecting the German hospital and concerned cardiac surgeons agreeing to treat the particular patient.
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Valid passport
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Proofs of civil status
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Proofs of financial status
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European health insurance and related papers
Role Of Vaidam Healthcare
Vaidam Health is one of the best medical travel companies that has been helping medical travelers from different countries to get the best treatment in the best hospitals in different nations including Germany. To get support from Vaidam’s team, you are free to raise a request quote.
Conclusion
Germany has some of the best hospitals with cardiac care equipment. Cardiac surgeons are highly skilled and well-experienced and one can plan for a medical tour to Germany for cardiac surgery. It is recommended to arrange everything beforehand to avoid any hassle during your trip to Germany.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Are there any complications associated with cardiac surgery?
Ans: Medical advancements today are highly precise with the least risks however, as with other surgeries, bleeding from the incision site is a complication in cardiac surgery.
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Can a person lift weights after undergoing major cardiac surgery?
Ans: It is advised not to lift weights after major cardiac surgery for allowing the sternum to heal.
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Does a person need a blood transfusion during cardiac surgery?
Ans: Cardiac surgeries are most likely linked to blood transfusion to ensure tissue oxygen delivery.
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