Clinical studies

Tetralogy of Fallot is the most common cyanotic heart defect. This study investigates the long-term prognosis of the disease after surgical correction. The main emphasis lies on methods to determine the diminution of right ventricular function. read more …

Little is currently known about the efficacy of beta blockers in the treatment of right ventricular failure. This multistage drug-based intervention study conducts tests to determine whether this type of drug is capable of improving right ventricular function. read more …

This multi-centric, prospective, therapy study investigates the effects of cardiac resynchronisation therapy on right and left ventricular function in patients with congenital heart defects. read more …

Goal of this study is to find out whether a preventive therapy can serve to delay the start of a cardiac insufficiency and thereby lead to an improved quality of life as well as to a prolonged survival rate in patients with a known Duchenne muscular dystrophy. read more …

Physical capacity has an immediate impact on the everyday lives of patients with congenital heart defects. This study establishes criteria for assessing the exercise tolerance of affected children and adolescents on the basis of standardised examination parameters. read more …

The magnetic resonance imaging study for the first time provides quantitative measurements of highly differentiated parameters of right ventricle function. read more …

Tissue Doppler echocardiography is a rapid, non-invasive means of assessing myocardial function and obtaining global information on right ventricular function. For the first time, these data are being evaluated on a broad clinical basis in the competence network study and used to assess therapeutic outcome. read more …

The ultimate aim of medical treatment must necessarily be to improve the quality of patients’ lives. All studies carried out by the competence network include gathering data on quality of life using generic questionnaires to obtain subjective viewpoints on health-related quality of life. The subjects are interviewed prior to therapeutic treatment and 12 months afterwards. read more …

Due to the lack of large-scale therapy studies in paediatric cardiology, the guidelines published by the German Society for Pediatric Cardiology (DGPK) have an evidence ranking of around level 2. The results of studies carried out by the competence network on right ventricular stress, right ventricular failure and diseases of the pulmonary circulation, accompanied by a critical evaluation of available literature, flow into the development of evidence-based treatment guidelines. read more …

The aim of the study on pulmonary arterial hypertension diagnostics is to develop standardised methods of diagnosis that will allow changes in the pulmonary arteries to be counteracted at an early stage. read more …

A study on the diagnostics and therapy of peripheral pulmonary stenoses serves as a basis for developing diagnosis guidelines and new forms of treatment for this illness. The aim is to treat right ventricular dysfunction due to pulmonary obstructions in good time, using surgical or alternatively interventional methods. read more …