Live Case Centres
The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne
The Department of Cardiology at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne assesses and treats patients with all forms of adult cardiovascular disease. The department is located on the third floor of The Alfred and comprises outpatient clinics, investigation suites and an in-patient ward co-located with The Alfred Department of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. It has close links with the adjacently situated Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute. In addition to patient care the Department has an extensive research and education programme.
The department has four catheterisation laboratories in which a range of diagnostic, therapeutic and research procedures are performed. These include coronary and peripheral arterial imaging and intervention, haemodynamic assessments including pressure-volume loops and responses to exercise, device implantation, structural intervention, and cardiac biopsy. The department of electrophysiology offers a range of arrhythmia services which include catheter ablation for complex arrhythmias including atrial fibrillation. The Department is also recognised locally and internationally as a centre of excellence in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging, with approximately 1000 CMR scans performed each year.
The Heart Failure/Heart Transplant Service is the only programme in Victoria offering all modalities required for heart failure care from diagnosis through to mechanical circulatory support and transplantation. The programme offers a multidisciplinary approach to care including nurse co-ordinators, allied health and cardiac rehabilitation programmes.
The Structural Heart Program at The Alfred involves transcatheter treatment of non-coronary cardiac defects. This includes valvular heart disease and congenital anomalies. Services provided include: transcatheter aortic valve implantation, transcatheter mitral valve repair and implantation, percutaneous atrial septal defect closure, balloon aortic and mitral valvuloplasty, PFO closure, PDA and other cardiac defect closure, novel devices for the treatment of cardiac failure, first-in-human studies with new cardiac technologies and renal denervation for refractory hypertension.
Monash Medical Centre, Victoria
MonashHeart, the cardiology service of Monash Health, provides the busiest cardiology service in Victoria and one of the busiest in Australia. Located principally at Monash Medical Centre in the suburb of Clayton it services more than a million people in the south-east of Melbourne and the state of Victoria as well as providing services to Tasmania.
MonashHeart provides all aspects of cardiology care including paediatric cardiology and has internationally regarded programs in interventional cardiology including transcatheter therapies in structural heart disease and is a leading site of early in-human clinical device trials. MonashHeart research under the auspices of Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre focuses on translational research in cardiac device development, cardiac rhythm management and in human, in vivo coronary physiology. MonashHeart also has a major commitment to cardiac CT applications and development that has established it as a major international site in use of CT imaging in cardiology.
MonashHeart is a globally recognised Clinical Trial site and leads a number of regulatory trials involving coronary and structural cardiac devices as well as offering high quality sub-specialty fellow training and, in unison with Monash University, has an active PhD program based around clinical cardiology.
The Heart Center Leipzig at University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
The Department of Cardiology at the Heart Center Leipzig at University of Leipzig assesses and treats patients with all forms of congenital and adult cardiovascular disease. The Heart Center Leipzig is one of the biggest Heart Centers in Europe and comprises outpatient clinics, investigation suites and large in-patient wards. In addition to patient care the department has an extensive research and education programme.
The department has two hybrid ORs, four catheterization laboratories for coronaries and 4 for EP procedures in which a range of diagnostic, therapeutic and research procedures are performed. These include coronary and peripheral arterial imaging and intervention, hemodynamic assessments including pressure-volume loops and responses to exercise, device implantation, structural intervention, and cardiac biopsy. The department of electrophysiology offers a range of arrhythmia services which include catheter ablation for complex arrhythmias including atrial fibrillation. The cardiology and EP department are one of the biggest in Europe. The department is also recognized locally and internationally as a center of excellence in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging, with approximately 2000 CMR scans performed each year.
The Structural Heart Program at the Heart Center Leipzig involves transcatheter treatment all valves with currently roughly 950 AVR procedures per year. This includes valvular heart disease and congenital anomalies. Services provided include: transcatheter aortic valve implantation, transcatheter mitral valve repair and implantation, transcatheter tricuspid treatment, percutaneous atrial septal defect closure, balloon aortic and mitral valvuloplasty, PFO closure, PDA and other cardiac defect closure, novel devices for the treatment of cardiac failure, first-in-human studies with new cardiac technologies and renal denervation for refractory hypertension.