2023-06-27 14:18:23
Research findings improve heart attack care
New treatment methods are constantly improving the care of patients with cardiovascular diseases. At the center of acute care is the Tyrolean heart attack network, which is constantly being improved on the basis of the latest scientific findings. For the 25th time, the University Clinic for Internal Medicine III is organizing one of the most important and largest medical congresses for cardiology in Austria. From June 29th to July 1st, around 700 experts will exchange ideas in Innsbruck.
Cardiovascular diseases are still the most common cause of death in Austria. Acute myocardial infarction and its sequelae are responsible for over 50 percent of cardiovascular causes of death. The Innsbruck University Clinic for Internal Medicine III (cardiology and angiology) treats more than 1,000 heart attacks in Tyrol every year. A central factor for optimal care is the fastest possible diagnosis of acute heart attacks, which have to be treated in the heart catheter laboratories of the university hospital. “In the last ten years, the number of heart attacks that we have to treat invasively each year has more than doubled,” explains Axel Bauer, Director of the University Clinic for Internal Medicine III. “The primary goal in the event of a heart attack is the fastest possible care, which is why a well-developed network and the corresponding logistics outside the hospital are crucial.”
The heart attack network 2.0 in Tyrol was created on the basis of the latest research findings and will be presented at the congress by Bernhard Metzler, senior physician at the University Clinic for Internal Medicine III. “The close networking of the Innsbruck University Hospital with the referring hospitals, the emergency doctors and the resident colleagues plays a key role in the optimal and fastest possible treatment of heart attacks. Thanks to an innovative algorithm, we are now able to classify the urgency of treatment based on the transmitted patient data problem-free,” explains Metzler. “We have been able to achieve continuous improvements here.” With the help of information technology, especially in early detection, there should be further optimization. Treatment in the heart catheter laboratory is also constantly being optimised. “We now carry out almost all interventions for the treatment of coronary heart disease using the wrist. This is a great advantage, as it means only short bed rest and is associated with very few bleeding complications,” says the experienced cardiologist.
Better treatment thanks to digital tools
Digital tools improve early detection as well as therapy for patients with cardiovascular diseases. A scientific focus of Cardiology Innsbruck is the development and application of such technologies. A successful project in this context is the so-called eBRAVE-AF study, which was initiated under the direction of Axel Bauer at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. In 2022 the main results of the research work were published in Nature Medicine, a leading medical journal. The smartphone-based screening strategy evaluated in the study made it possible to double the diagnosis rate of atrial fibrillation requiring treatment. Atrial fibrillation is one of the most common cardiac arrhythmias, but it often goes undetected. Those affected have a fivefold increased risk of a stroke, which can be minimized by early diagnosis and prophylactic blood thinning with medication. “Further research work on this now needs to investigate the extent to which the number of strokes can be reduced by using a population-wide digital screening strategy,” explains Axel Bauer, who will present the results of the study at the congress.
Heart valve interventions: Univ.-Klinik Innsbruck leading centre
Diseases of the heart valves are mostly age-related. Patients of advanced age often cannot accept the risk and the burden of a major open heart operation using a heart-lung machine. “The catheter-based treatment of diseased heart valves now offers an excellent alternative that can be carried out extremely gently through a central vascular access under local anesthesia and without opening the chest,” explains Christoph Brenner, Deputy Director of the University Clinic for Internal Medicine III. Such interventions are carried out in close cooperation with the University Clinic for Cardiac Surgery. “Over the past few years, Innsbruck University Hospital has developed into a leading center for minimally invasive heart valve interventions with excellent results,” says Bauer. Accordingly, catheter-based heart valve interventions are also the main topic of this year’s cardiology conference.
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University Clinic for Internal Medicine III
(HOF, 27.06.2023, Photo: MUI/ D. Bullock)
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