Zeitschrift für Kardiologie
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Review Comparative Study
[Radiofrequency catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardias].
Management of patients with ventricular tachycardia (VT) is often difficult. Drug therapy is often ineffective. Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) can terminate VT episodes but do not prevent them. ⋯ However, some of these patients may develop recurrences due to other types of VT. Recent technical developments have increased efficacy and simplified the approach of RF ablation of VT in patients with structural heart disease. However, long-term efficacy is not accurately predictable and implantation of an ICD is mandatory in most of the patients with severely depressed left ventricular function.
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Historical Article
History of cardiac surgery in Germany--in consideration of her relation to the German Cardiac Society.
As late as the end of World War II (1945), cardiac surgery did not play a clinical role worldwide. Successful cardiac operations were singular events often caused by unexpected circumstances. In contrast, the first successful suture of a cardiac stab wound by Ludwig Rehn (1896 in Frankfurt am Main) followed after experimental investigation of this topic in the laboratory. ⋯ This development was hampered even more in the eastern parts of the country. Above-average efforts there, equalized the degree of clinical care in a few years. The co-operation between the German Cardiac Society (founded 1927) and the German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (founded 1971) was of great benefit for this satisfying development.
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Due to the isolation of German medicine in World War II accompanied by the destruction of many hospitals, German pediatricians did not show any serious interest in the treatment of children with congenital heart diseases, nor did they take notice of the progress achieved by Helen Taussig, Alfred Blalock and other cardiologists and surgeons in the western world. This problem was even worse in East Germany. Only a few German internists and forward-looking surgeons were able and ready to take care of this group of principally operable children in places like Bonn/Düsseldorf, Marburg/Munich, Berlin, and Hamburg. ⋯ Thus, within the last three to four decades German pediatric cardiology gradually caught up with international standards and in some fields of cardiovascular research even assumed a leading role. The care of the growing numbers of surviving patients with congenital heart disease has become a new challenge that has to be met by experienced cardiologists. To maintain the level of competence, future activities should however, not only concentrate on the optimal care of patients with congenital heart disease but also be responsible for cardiovascular research.