Prof. Dr. Dr. Ferdinand Vogt

The focus here is on minimally invasive care. Many procedures are performed on the beating heart without using the heart-lung machine and the associated risks. In the meantime, more than 80 percent of all bypass operations are carried out using the so-called off-pump procedure.

Also the minimally invasive treatment of structural heart diseases, especially the reconstruction or replacement of heart valves - Vogt's main area. This includes catheter-based aortic valve implantations, so-called TAVIs, in which the diseased valve is displaced and replaced with a prosthesis using catheter technology, mostly via the femoral artery. In the case of defective mitral valve diseases, depending on the cause and the patient's profile, the "Neochord" procedure or an edge-to-edge procedure may also be used, in which the leaking sails of the valves are treated with a kind of clip, thus restoring the closing ability of the heart valve.

The "charm" of all these methods: a "small" intervention with a big impact, which is particularly beneficial for older patients who cannot undergo open surgical intervention due to too high a risk. Modern heart surgery also means finding individual solutions and weighing up what should and should not be done. "It is then a matter of how we can enable especially elderly patients to have their remaining time as hassle-free as possible." It's like with vintage cars: You no longer drive through the car wash or speed at 200 km/h on the highway. With this image, Vogt illustrates that it is often better to repair selectively and punctually with discretion and high expertise, so that the system works well or better again and the patients can quickly return to their social environment and everyday life.

That's why Vogt involves the relatives right from the start. Communication that benefits everyone: him as a doctor, because he learns more about the patients and their living conditions. And even after operations, he always personally picks up the phone and talks to those who are worried at home.

Communication is a central concern for Vogt anyway. This includes personally caring for each patient - something he took from his teacher Prof. Dr. Reichart, who still knew years later whom he had treated with which disease. This is made possible at the Artemed Klinikum thanks to its manageable size and close collaboration with cardiology and vascular surgery. Each intervention is discussed in the so-called heart team to optimally treat the patients.

In addition, the heart surgeon has set up an indications consultation twice a week in the clinic - because it is important to him to be available for the patients before the procedures and to answer open questions. "Often patients, when they leave the clinic door, do not know what their disease means or what the medications they have to take are for," Vogt knows from experience. For him, it's a clear mandate to improve this aspect of medicine.

In addition to his clinical work, research and teaching as well as the further development of new treatment methods are also close to his heart. Dr. Vogt teaches at the Paracelsus Medical Private University in Nuremberg and is heavily involved in a research group of the Cape Heart Institute of the University of Cape Town, which is developing a polymer valve for rheumatic heart valve diseases.

What keeps our heart healthy and efficient? According to Dr. Vogt, it is crucial to establish a regular rhythm. This includes, besides a good social environment, sufficient sleep and gesunder Ernährung vor allem Bewegung. Doch da muss es nicht immer das volle Programm sein: Jeder Schritt zählt, jede Treppe, die man zu Fuß erklimmt, und jeder Lift, den man stehen lässt. (Weitere Tipps für ein gesundes Herz von Dr. Vogt finden Sie hier.)